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<iA MANUAL 



ON THE PROPAGATION 
AND CULTIVATION OF 




PUBLISHED BY PRACTICAL 
PEONY GROWERS 

Second Edition 

PRICE 25 CENTS 

COPYRIQHTBD 



REPUBLICAN, YORK, NCB 



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Henri Murger 



A PEONY MANUAL 






Im^mm^m, 











^wm up-to date infortnation regardittg 
these Beautiful flowers. 



Sbowing:— 



l)OW to Raise Trom Seed, 
Row to Increase by DHJlslons, 
l)Ow to Plant and Cultivate. 



Z\)H \$ designed to be a Complete Guide 
to the TlorUt and Jlmateur. 




EDITED BY 



C. S. HARRISON, 

Author of "Phlox cTManual " "The Evergreens," "The Gold cTMine 
in the Front Yard." 



COPYRIGHTED 1907 



Two CoBles Received 
MAN It 1907 
«, Copyright Entry 

CL1SS A XXC, No. 

/ 7/ 7fO . 

COfV B. 



€. $. I)arri$on'$ 



INTRODUCTION 




The former edition of this manual was the first issued in any 
language. This was so cordially received that the 2,000 were soon 
exhausted. Some of the peony growers decided to issue another 
edition. Most of the matter is new. Many things have come up 
the past few )^ears that need attention. This department of flori- 
culture has made tremendous strides and we need to keep step with 
the progress. An interest unknown before has been awakened. 
New varieties are being produced, and hundreds are engaged in 
raising seedlings. The demand for these flowers is unprecedented. 
This work embodies much close observation and careful research, 
which we trust will be of benefit to the reader. What is needed is 
information. Thousands of people know little or nothing about the 
peony. Thousands have never seen one. The great west has 
passed the pioneer stage and is now thinking more of home adorn- 
ment. They wish to know what to plant. One man in Minneap- 
olis desired to improve his fine grounds. Incidentally he borrowed 
a manual, read it with interest, and sent for $150 worth, and now 
he is a champion of this queenly flower. Another gentleman read 
it and sent an order for $130 worth. Many a woman, with soul 
hungry for the beautiful, read it, and sent an order for some of the 
rarest. We are sure that that edition of 2,000 has awakened an in- 
terest which is spreading. The peony society, sometime in the fu- 
ture, contemplates issuing a work on the subject; but something is 
needed now, and so we give this, which we are sure will meet with 
cordial reception. What is needed is to push information into the 
great west, where these flowers are so much needed, and where 
they thrive and bloom so successfully. We have yet only touched 
the borders of the great work to be accomplished. 

': J ^ m Bsmk Queen 

When perfumed June with cushioned sandals came 

And threw her flowery mantle o'er the North — 

As beautiful as at creation's birth — 

And all the fields M-ith color were a-gleam, 

My pamper'd spirit dreamed, and this my dream: 

From sunrise land a (jueenly form came forth 

Bedecked with am])le robes of untold worth. 

Her gown with oriental dyes aflame. 

So graceful and so perfect every line 

She claimed my adoration from that hour: 

So statel\-, and so large her (jueenly dower 

I straightway bowed and worshiped at her shrine. 

Awake, I walk along the peony rows, 

A THOUSAND Eastern queens my garden shows. 

— Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



Peony manual ^ 

CHAPTER I 



Classification 

We have spent much time in the endeavor to search out the 
original varieties of this flower. From the number we judge that 
there is yet great room for progress, and perhaps we have only just 
begun with our hybridizing. By permission I quote from J. W. 
Manning, in "American Gardening," of March 5th, for which I ten- 
der grateful acknowledgment: 

"Until the forthcoming peony list of the American Peony So- 
ciety is published, I believe quotation of variety names should be 
used with great care, and believe that the best interest may be 
served by giving the following list of species and their distinctive 
characters: 

Peonia Albiflora, Pallas. A Siberian species introduced about 
1756, and one of the forerunners of the hybrid herbaceous forms, 
two to three feet high, with deep, rich green, often veined red leaf- 
lets, and bearing clusters of three or more very large, broad, over- 
lapping petaled white to light pink single flowers, and showing 
globular masses of golden anthers in the center of each. June. 
Reevesiana, Fragrans, Whitleyi and Festiva show close affinity to 
this species. 

Peonia Anomala, Linn. From Europe and Asia, with finely 
dissected, smooth foliage. Solitary, single, bright crimson flowers, 
and distinct in the large size of the petals and the pecuhar com- 
pound, leaflike sepals. Two feet. May. Its varieties, Insignis, 
Peter Barr, Smoutti and Intermedia are now recognized, being 
more distinct in the character of foliage than otherwise. 

Peonia Arietina, Anders. A tall South European species, dis- 
tinct in the stems, being hairy toward the top; the foliage quite 
glaucus and downy beneath. The flowers are large, dark red and 
solitary, and the seed pods are prominently covered with hairs. 
The varieties range through shades of pink and red. 

Peonia Browni. Dougl. A Northwest American dwarf species, 
with glaucus foliage and dull, brownish-red flowers, borne on re- 
curved stems. 

Peonia Broteri, Boiss and Reut. An early-blooming, Euro- 
pean species, similar in foliage and habit to Peonia Officinalis, 
with red flowers varying to white. 

Peonia Coccinea. A reported species in the Royal Botanical 
Gardens at Glasnevin. 

Peonia Corallina, Retz. Asia Minor. A vigorous species, two 
to three feet high, with dark green foliage, the lower leaves of 
which are only twice divided. Bright, crimson flowers, with short, 
rounded petals and seed vessels of a bright red color. 

Peonia Coriacea. Boiss. Similar to Peonia Albiflora, with 
even broader leaflets, bright crimson flowers, purple stigmas and 
smooth seed vessels. 



4 C. $. garrison's 

Peonia Corsica, Sieher, Closely related to, if not the same as, 
the last. 

Peonia Decora, Anders. From Southern Europe. A close 
species to Peonia Arietina, with peculiar horizontal foliaj^e dimin- 
ishinji: toward top of the stems, which are two to three feet high. 
The crimson flowers are small, with few narrow and small petals. 
Pallasii, with narrow leaflets, and Elatior, w4th broadly oblong 
leaflets, are recognized varieties. 

Peonia Emodi, Wall. A Himalayan species, two to three feet 
high, closely related to Peonia Anomala, with smooth, finely cut 
foliage, pale beneath. Flowers pure white, borne in clusters of 
four or more. 

Peonia Humilis, Retz. A French species of low growth, with 
somewhat velvety foliage, and with bright red flowers on short 
stems, and borne in clusters of three or more, with smooth seed pods. 

Peonia Lutea. Recently discovered species from Yunnan, and 
introduced by Abbe Delavay, growing about two feet high and bear- 
ing small, bright yellow flowers. The plant is somewhat shrubb}^ 
in habit, and allied to Peonia Moutan. Not sufficiently tested as 
yet as to its hardihood. 

Peonia Microcarpa, Boiss and Reut. Closely allied to P. Hu- 
milis, with even dwarfer habit and more downy foliage. Presum- 
ably a native of France. 

Peonia Mollis,' Anders. x\ dwarf Siberian species, with dark 
green upper surface foliage, and distinctly glaucus and velvet 
below. Flowers pink or red, and borne singl}'. 

Peonia Moutan, Sims. The well-known Tree Peony, a native 
of China. 

Peonia Officinalis, Linn. The oldest cultivated species, first 
grown in 1548, with dark green foliage above, pale green beneath, 
growing two to three feet high and producing single, dark crimson 
flowers, and with re-curved crimson stigmas. Early blooming, and 
a parent of many double anemone-flowered and semi-double varie- 
ties. A native of Europe. 

Peonia Paradoxa, Anders. A very dwarf, almost tufted, Turk- 
ish species, with three-lobed incised foliage and purplish red flow- 
ers borne singh', and with seed vessels closely pressed together. 
There is a \ariet3-, Fimbriata. with double purple flowers and pro- 
jecting purple stamens. 

Peonia Peregrina, Mill. An European species, similar to Pe- 
onia Officinalis, but with very smooth, deep green foliage above, 
pale green, hairy beneath. Flowers bright crimson. This has given 
rise to two double forms and a number of varieties with single 
whorls of petals. 

Peonia Obovata, Maxim. A little known species, with "lower 
leaves not more than twice ternate; flowers large, red-purple, and 
glabrous seed vessels." 

Peonia Pubens, Sims. Allied to Peonia Arietina. Leaves 
hairy below, margins red. 

Peonia Russi, Bivoxi. A Sicilian and French species varying 



Peony manual 5 

from Peonia Corallina in decidedl}' hair}' undersurface of foliage. 

Peonia Sessiliflora, Sims. Nearly related to Peonia Mollis; 
very low, flowers short-stemmed, pure white. 

Peonia Triternata (Daurica), Pallas. Three feet. Differs 
only from Peonia Corallina in the rounded leaves, greener stems 
and rose-colored flowers, A native of Caucasus. 

Peonia Sibirica. A little known species in the Glasnevin Royal 
Botanic Garden list. 

Peonia Tenuifolia, Linn. A Caucasus species eighteen inches 
high, with light, soft green, very finely divided foliage, and dark 
crimson, yellow anthered flowers and spirally recurved stigma. 
The earliest blooming species. There are double and semi-double 
types of this. 

Peonia Wittmanniana, Stev. A Caucasian and north Persian 
species about two feet high, with coarsely divided dark green foli- 
age, downy beneath and bearing showy, incurved, pale yellow flow- 
ers, one to a stem. Rare. 



CHAPTER II 



Propagation 

It is highly important to know how to multiply these valuable 
flowers, for the process is slow at best. 

You buy a choice Syringa or Philadelphus, and you can divide 
the roots and plant cuttings and increase them very rapidly. You 
can, in a few years, run a new kind of a fruit tree up into the mil- 
lions, but you cannot rush the peony. One of the best on the list 
originated in 1850, and it is impossible now to supply the demand. 
If you raise from seed you never reproduce the original, and it takes 
from five to eight years to know what you are getting. But with 
care, by root division alone, you can secure from 500 to 1,000 in ten 
years. There are four modes of propagation; by division, from 
roots, from buds and from seeds. 

We have a different system, when we raise for roots, than 
when we propagate for flowers. By the best of care on the richest 
ground you can hurry them considerably. But there is a great dif- 
ference in them. L'Esperence and Victoria Tricolor multiply rap- 
idly, while J. Discaisne, though a glorious flower, wants about four 
years to double itself. Others equall}' as good in bloom are much 
more profitable. From Baroness Schroeder, La Tulipe and Rich- 
ardson's Rubra I have cut thirty roots in four years from one. By 
dividing every two or three years you have perfectly healthy and 
vigorous plants. I have bought those that must have stood twelve 
or fifteen years. The buds were partially decayed, and they had 
great, club-like roots. There is no advantage in such large roots, 
A two-year-old plant, sound and vigorous, is much to be preferred. 



€. $. I)arrl$on'$ 



Propagation by Dii)i$ion 



Here you have a task which rec}uires much care and patience. 
At times it would seem as if 3 ou were playing a game of chess and 
w^ere sure of being beaten b}' the peony. There is no class of 
plants which shows such a divergence in root formation. Some 
will have a very distinct cleavage, so that there is no trouble in di- 
viding, and some you can pull apart without the aid of a knife; oth- 
ers grow to a solid mass. Some are very readily separated while 
young, but if left a few years they become so compact that they 
must be cut to pieces like a turnip. Take Richardson's Rubra Su- 
perba, one of the most vigorous kinds. If divided every two years 
you will be surprised at the result; perhaps you will get from three 
to six from one. But you let them stay for six or seven years and 
they become as solid as a squash, and the best you can do is to cut 
out a bud with a piece of root. Festiva Maxima, with good culti- 
vation, will double every year. If left too long, however, it will 
have great club-like roots, half decayed near the buds. Most Euro- 
pean growers divide ever}- year or two and so keep the plants vig- 
orous. There is such a thing, however, as cutting too fine, when 
they appear to get discouraged, and it takes 3'ears for them to re- 
cover. In Europe there is one trouble in dividing so often. They 
do not get to blooming before they are cut up again, and there is 
no chance to rogue them. Strays of other varieties wall often get 
in. A careful grower can tell the aliens by the flowers and so weed 
them out. This is an important matter. But if they are cut up be- 
fore they show what they are, as the rogues often multiply faster 
than the others, there will be very serious mixtures, as most of us 
who have imported know by unpleasant experience. 

Cbrec to Jm Gycs 

It is often the custom of purchasers to demand peonies with 
three to five eyes. In doing this they often get much smaller roots 
than if they said nothing about it. It is necessary to have a good 
root, regardless of the number of buds. We have received roots 
with this number that would not weigh more than two ounces, and 
it would take two or three years to attain bearing size. It is easy 
enough to load a small root with plenty of eyes, so much so that 
there will be too many stems for the root. Divide often, and your 
plant will run to buds. 

We know one dealer who was putting up a robust lot of roots, 
and while packing received a supplementar}- despatch that they 
must have three to Ave e3es. Said he, "That lets me out," and he 
went and dug some very small roots of half the size, but they met 
the requirements, and the purchaser could say nothing. 

In cutting up you will find some very peculiar. Instead of hav- 
ing roots that grow straight down they wind themselves around the 
neck of the plant like the arms of a child around a mother's neck. 



Peony manual 7 

Perhaps it will be a valuable sort. There is a little dirt on them, 
but you are sure that you can make it. You insert your knife, and 
lo, the buds fall on one side and the roots on the other. You try 
again and meet the same results. You are playing chess and the 
plant is beating you. 

Again you find the}^ are very brittle. A slight touch and they 
snap. You wonder what you will do. Don't do anything for 
awhile. Let those roots lie in the sun a few hours until they wilt 
and grow flexible. Now take this one so badly twisted. Gently 
lift that twining arm. At the upper end there is a bud; you want 
that bud and root to go together. Insert the knife under the root, 
lift it genth% now give a careful thrust, and you have root and bud 
read}^ for business. Look again. Here is another twisted one with 
an eye belonging to it, and with care you get five or six good ones 
with eyes attached. You feel better, for you are winning in the 
game, and perhaps each division means a dollar, so you can afford 
to be deliberate. It does not hurt them a particle to wilt a little. 
Put them in water and they soon resume their plumpness, or plant 
them in moist earth and they soon send out tiny rootlets. If you 
are packing, it is much better to have them a little flexible; they do 
not break so readily; only pack in moist material, and water well, 
and they will reach their destination in a plump condition. 

For Commercial Purposes, the best way is to take a fair sized 
root not quite large enough to put into an order, plant it on good 
ground, and let it grow a year. It will increase its size about one- 
half. The knife wounds will be healed, and you have nearly a per- 
fect root for your customer. Let it go entire, unless you can nip 
off a small bud with a root on it, which you can do without injury. 
I think such plants give the best satisfaction. They are healthy, 
and when planted make a vigorous growth. We cannot always do 
this, however, and so in most cases we send divisions. 



CHAPTER III 



Kaistng front Roofs 

I have watched this process closely for years, and have found 
one thing, perhaps not discovered by others. The root is small 
where it joins at the top; it swells in the center and then tapers. 
Now if a root is broken at the center, the lower portion never can 
form a head. It will try hard. A callus will be formed at either 
end. The poor thing will do its best to put a head on itself, but 
cannot make it. At the end of the first year the root will yet be 
sound; the second year the top will begin to decay, and the third 
year it will be rotten. The upper portion of the same root, where 



8 C. $. garrison's 

it breaks from the plant, will have a s^ood show for forming a head. 
Kinds differ. The Edulis Superba and others of its class are stored 
with vitalit}'. I have often stripped off roots, like fingers from the 
hand, and planted them, and almost invariably a bud would form 
the first year and be ready for business the next spring. Sometimes 
it will take two years to form a head, but in the main you will suc- 
ceed better to carefully divide and plant root and bud together. 

Very often, in cutting up a large quantity, hundreds of roots 
will be left on the ground. You can gather these and put them 
in a bed, with the tops up, a layer of roots and a layer of earth. 
Cover with about two inches of earth. Some throw them promis- 
cuously into a pit. In the fall you can overhaul them, and you will 
find many of them have thrown out a bud at the crown. These can 
be planted, and they will make quite a growth the next year. There 
are some exceptions to the general rule. Queen Victoria, and some 
other sorts, will form what are termed adventitious shoots, and pro- 
duce buds from their lower portions. 

The two kinds of Tenuifolia and Officinalis have roots like a 
sweet potato. The tubers are often separated from the parent 
stem. Place these in a bed by themselves, planted as directed 
above, and in about a 3'ear they will develop buds, and will be ready 
for planting. 

When you are in great haste to multiply rare sorts you can take 
a large root, put it in moist earth and keep it warm, and in a short 
time it will develop a large amount of buds. Now is your chance 
to cut a bud with a fair portion of root attached. We have some- 
times produced eight or ten plants from roots which, when first 
chosen, showed no indication of buds, save at the crown. Only 
some sorts can thus be treated. 

Propagatitid from Buds 

Considerable stir has been made about what is termed a new 
and rapid system of increasing plants. Having tested it, there is 
something in it, but whether enough to make it pay, is a question. 
Take off the top and bottom of a box eighteen inches deep, then 
put it over a strong clump and fill it with earth. The whole plant 
makes a desperate effort to climb to the sunlight. Both root and 
top show unwonted energy. In two years the stems will develop 
well defined buds. These you can cut off, with a piece of the stem, 
and plant in moist earth in a warm place. After awhile they will 
take root. At the same time an unusual amount will be formed at 
the crown. I have counted forty buds on a strong plant treated 
this way. I do not think plants developed from the stems will be 
as robust as those secured from divisions, and doubt whether we 
gain much by the process. The most rapid mode of production 
probably is to cut up every year or two and give the best of cultiva- 
tion. Under such a j^rocess yon multiply rapidly and have tine, 
healthy roots. 



Peony manual 

CHAPTER IV 



Kaising from $cea$ 

TESTIMONY OF AN EXPERT. 

We are happy to introduce to our readers F. O. Brand, of 
Fairbault, Minn., who has had large experience in raising fruits and 
ilowers from seed, and who has now probably some of the choicest 
peony seedlings on earth. 

Cbe Dcligbt in Tinding new Tloral 6em$ 

"It has been said that the most reasonable solution of the 
problem of our existence is that 'We find the possibilities of our ca- 
pacity and our responsibility as beings conscious of a power of 
choice of directing our ways and applying our knowledge.' The 
originators of new and better creations in the floral world should be 
possessed with a consciousness of their own ability to materially as- 
sist in the development of superior and meritorious new creations, 
but the}- should also be slaves to that best of masters, Love for the 
object sought. 

"An ever widening horizon of floral possibilities continually 
opens before us, and the lover of the new and beautiful is invited 
and attracted with an irresistible influence into the great unknown, 
into the unexplored realms where beautiful queens of the floral 
world are reigning supreme. 

"Nature's liberality is increased by her repeated donations. 
Knowing this, we see no resting place, no achievement that can sat- 
isfy or cause us to believe that the best has been obtained. 

Success in Raising Tlowers from Seed 

"In 1863 there were but few named varieties of peonies in culti- 
vation. The fact that it takes from three to eight years from seed 
to get blossoms and then the small per cent, of reall}' good ones has 
operated as a barrier to effort and prevented thousands from en- 
gaging in an undertaking that promised so little. 

"Beginning the growing of nursery stock in 1867 here in Min- 
nesota, I soon had a good collection of peonies. I was often disap- 
pointed because I did not get what I ordered. In one instance, in 
1872, from a list of so-called fifteen varieties, there were but four 
kinds. In 1878 I began in earnest to make a large collection and at 
the end of the next ten years had full}- 300 named varieties of the 
best I could secure in Europe and America. M\- main object was 
to secure seedlings. In this lot were fifty varieties from Mr. Terr}-. 
For several years the}- blossomed finely and in 1899 produced an 



lo €. $. garrison's 

abundance of seed, which I saved and planted that fall. I plowed 
up a strawberr}' bed, which made a line place for them. The seeds 
were planted five inches apart in rows two feet apart. In 1892 two 
plants blossomed, in 1903 about 125, in 1904 there were about 
3,000, in 1905 and 1906 some very fine ones bloomed for the first 
time. Among these were some of our very best. It seems they 
had kept themselves in reserve in order to come forth in new glory 
and a fresh reinforcement of splendor. Certainly they are more 
than welcome at this late date. If the tardy ones, which are yet to 
show their colors, improve in the same proportion they will be 
gladly welcomed. 

"Our success has been beyond our expectations. We have a 
much larger per cent, of really good ones than we had hoped for. 
We had one from Rubra Officinalis, and this was a duplicate of the 
parent. A person engaged in this work needs a large amount of 
patience and a willingness to wait long years for his reward. The 
satisfaction of knowing that you have been the means of adding to 
the world's beauty, brightness and happiness is of itself an imper- 
ishable reward. In this respect my success has been great." 

"F. O. Brand, Fairbault, Minn." 



EXPERIENCE OF MR. GEORGE MOLLIS, OF SOUTH WEYMOUTH, MASS. 

He says: "There is a fascination about the raising of peonies 
from seed, which does not attend the raising of common plants, for 
the reason that it is a process born of a long enduring enthusiasm; 
for to be a seedling producer requires patience and a belief in the 
final success of your work. 

"You must learn to 'labor and to wait,' for the seed do not 
generally come until the second year. I suppose they are giving 
Nature time to fulfill her duty. They should be planted as soon as 
ripe, and the second spring the tiny shoots will appear. The little 
plant is only about four inches high, but it is an evidence of progress. 

"See that the weeds do not choke them. Water them if the 
ground gets very dry, cultivate them thoroughly, and don't lose 
your enthusiasm, for the end is not yet. Take good care of them 
for three or four years, when the strongest ones and the single ones 
will be the first to open. They are all beautiful, but there are dif- 
ferent degrees of beauty. The large, choice ones will come in the 
rear, anywhere from four to ten years. 

"But if you are an enthusiast you will plant seeds every 3'ear 
and will constantly have plants in all stages of growth. Beauty's 
Mask took the longest time to develop of any of my raising, while 
Welcome Guest was the first to win recognition. Then they have 
different degrees of height. I like the tall, robust and imposing 
ones like George Washington — not the dwarf growth of many. 
Then the style and size of bloom must be taken into consideration. 
This season, 1906, the judges granted me a certificate of merit on 
Loveliness and Julia Ward Howe, and I have many others wait- 
ing to be approved. 



Peony manual n 

"Then the color must be clear and decided. Lady White is a 
tine one. Bunker Hill and John Hancock are very desirable red 
ones, while Lucy E. Hollis and Twentieth Century are pink. 
And what shall I say of Goliath and Maud L. Richardson, that 
have already received certificates.-' So you see that seedling raisers 
are not without hope of reward. So keep on with the good work 
and you will surely meet with success. 

"Great care is necessary in selecting seeds if you wish for the 
best results. Those saved from full double ones, pollenated with 
others nearly as double, will give fewer seeds, but better results, 
and that is what you are working for. There will occasionally be 
one of Japanese form, one of those strange flowers blazing like a 
mid-day sun among the green foliage, waiting for us to do it hom- 
age. Two of these appeared in my this year's harvest of bloom, 
Flashlight and Bobbie Bee. And thus will the procession pass, 
while wonder, praise and glory will fill the beholder." 

"Geo, Hollis, South Weymouth, Mass." 

Supplementing these interesting experiences, I wouM sa}^ we 
are glad that attention is being paid to this important branch of 
horticulture. We depend too much on Europe, when we can do 
better ourselves. Peonies are the healthiest plants on earth, but in 
some way they manage to have them diseased, and we get some 
fearful specimens. Every American creator gives us absolutely 
healthy plants. Until recently very little attention was paid by us 
to the originating of new sorts. Now there are probably half a mil- 
lion on the way. Experts and amateurs are at it, and among those 
coming we will probably see some of the choicest yet produced. 
At the Boston peony show it was hard to find anything superior to 
some of Richardson's. His Grandiflora is a wonder, Milton Hill is 
a splendor. Mr. Terr}' has given us some fine ones. Rosenfield 
has produced two of superior merit and has others on the way. F. 
O. Brand, of Minnesota, has fine ones, and those of us who saw the 
productions of George Hollis were delighted with them. They 
were nearl}^ if not quite, equal to the choicest importations. 

Seeds should be selected onlv from the best. Single and 
semi-double ones seed the most readih', while the great, full double 
ones rarely produce any. But when they do they should be saved 
with the greatest care. It was years before I could get any from 
La Tulipe, but I finally succeeded. The success of growers de- 
pends almost entirely on the seeds. "Like begets like," and in- 
stead of seeing how many we can produce, we need to see how the 
very best can be secured. 

Only about one in a hundred, or perhaps one in a thousand, 
should be named. What shall we do with the thousands of reject- 
ed ones.? It is a pity to throw them away. Don't do it. Did you 
ever see a really poor one.-* There is room for them. The great 
west and northwest need them. They can be used for planting in 
masses, in parks and private grounds. And as they will grow al- 
most anywhere and under all conditions, there is many a barren or 
unsightly spot that might be made radiant by their smiles. Some 



12 e. $. l)arri$on*s 

can go onto the bar5i:ain counter for those who insist that a "pii^y 
is a piny," anyway, and that is all there is to it. 

I knew a florist abused by a lady because he charged her sixty 
cents for a fine one, when another florist sold peonies for twenty- 
five cents. If such a person could get one for ten cents she would 
hug herself in an ecstacy of delight. 

There is a splendid future for this industry. When we look 
over the original varieties and see how they differ we are impressed 
with the fact that almost infinite changes are yet to be wrought. 
The unique Japanese have been successfully crossed. We have 
seen some with beautiful and delicate tasselated centers, with a sat- 
iny finish, as though the highest art had aided the most exquisite 
production of Nature. 

€arc of $eca$ and Planting 

The best way to gather them is just as they are turning brown, 
and plant immediately. If you put them in moist sand, intending 
to plant late in the fall, you will find many of them badly sprouted. 
Gathered just as they are turning, many of them will come up the 
next spring. If you wait till they are fully dried, by no known proc- 
ess can you make them germinate under two years. Not one out 
of fifty pounds ever came up before that time. We have tried soak- 
ing them in warm water before planting. Some were kept in moist 
sand till spring, and then the sand was sifted out and they were 
well nigh scalded and then soaked a long time, but nothing will 
move them. In the green house, efforts have been made to break 
the spell and induce them to come out before the time, but all in 
vain. They will leisurely take the two years, and some will wait 
three and four years before they appear. 

Seeds may be planted thickly in rows two feet apart. You can 
let them remain till they bloom, or if too thick, move them and give 
them more space. All this takes time. When you originate new 
phloxes you can tell what you are doing within a year, but with pe- 
onies it will take from four to eight years. Do not be in a hurry. 
I have known rejected ones to make a splendid showing. 

Some sorts are erratic and variable. Growers have called their 
productions one color, when, in after years, they have developed 
another. For instance, Terry describes Etta, one of his best, as 
bright dark rose. Now and for years it is light flesh, turning to 
pure white, a beautiful, late flower. You cannot always tell from 
the first blooms what the succeeding ones will be. Among my own 
I noticed one of exquisite beaut}', richly variegated. A representa- 
tive of the press who saw it said "Let me name it," and he called 
it Effulgent. I placed a stake there, with the name on it, and the 
next year that identical plant bore a large, coarse, single flower, 
and I never saw Effulgent since. There are many points we wish 
to secure in new varieties. We want fragrance, symmetry, beauty, 
prolific bloomers and willing propagators that understand multipli- 



Pconv manual 13 

cation. I once had the finest crimson I ever saw. It was immense, 
a mass of splendor. The next year it had an inferior, flower, and 
the next none at all. That was not satisfactory, yet that is the way 
with many fine sorts. You cannot depend on them. A grower 
once selected the finest in a thousand. It was very large and of a 
beautiful color. He divided and gave it the best of care and wait- 
ed several years before he saw another bloom. By this time he 
had a dozen plants, and it took all of them to produce one flower, 
and that an inferior one. 

Again we have the record of a plant that bloomed single for 
twenty years and. then commenced giving double blooms. 

The tiny seedlings are very hardy. They often make their 
appearance in the snow and slush of early spring and do not seem 
to mind freezing and thawing. As if to guard against dry weather, 
they throw down a tap root like a radish. When hot and dry, the 
tops will die down early in the season and you think they are dead. 
But the next spring they are on hand preparing to bore down deep- 
er to be better fortified against the heat and drought. It is very in- 
teresting to watch the struggles of these tiny plants and note their 
victories. The writer is watching 50,000 of them. 



CHAPTER V 



non-Blootniiid and Sby-Bloomind Peonies 

People often complain that, though they have taken the best 
of care of their plants and they are strong and vigorous, yet for five 
or six years they have never bloomed. I think we can divide them 
into three classes: The Indolent, The Sensitive and The Free- 
Blooming. 

In many cases the plant will be healthy and vigorous enough, 
the stool growing larger ever}^ year; but never a bloom, or at least 
very seldom. These are the indolent, and make no returns for 
their board. Like some cows, you feed them for milk, and they 
turn it into fat; or, like a lazy man, willing enough to eat, but who 
don't like to work. This is constitutional. Throw them over the 
fence or put them on the bargain counter for that five cent woman 
who wants the very cheapest, and she will surely get it. 

The Sensitive Ones would do something, but they are in a 
cold and unfriendly world that does not appreciate them or their 
tastes and wishes. They cannot endure frosts and storms. They 
are so heartbroken over an untimely frost that they cannot even 
smile. Examine closely and you will find a tin\' black ball where 
the bud ought to be, and that explains it all. Many a plant, if 
properly humored and protected, would reward you with splendid 



14 €. $. Rarrlson's 

blooms. As it is, they will do nothing? till the conditions are favor- 
able, and so they bloom once in three or four years. As a general 
thing, many of Kelway's varieties will have the sulks and refuse to 
blossom, on account of the conditions not suiting their case. They 
are like the Englishman coming from all the comforts of the old 
country, who cannot adapt himself to our frontiers and is always 
grumbling about "the blarsted country." 

I make the following memorandum from man}' of his list: 

Lad\' Curzon. No bloom in live years. 

James Kelway. The same record. 

Prince of W'ales. One bloom in six years. 

Mr. Brighton. No bloom. 

Summer Day. Bloomed once, but had on a dress that did not 
belong to her. 

Joan Seaton. Never a bloom. 

Right beside these poor, dilettante, sensiti\e ones, was Terry's 
Prince of Wales, a robust plant, with glorious bloom. His St. So- 
phia was simply radiant in her beaut}'. These belong to the free- 
blooming list. 

When you get a splendid variety that never fails and you can 
cut blooms from it every year, don't you see it is worth four times 
as much as a sensitive one that is often nipped in the bud.'' 

Take the old popular sort known as L'Esperence, who thinks 
so much of the old soldiers she always wants to be present Decora- 
tion Day, and almost invariably gets there, bringing all her grace, 
fragrance and loveliness, and she is worth more than a dozen shrink- 
ing, sensitive kinds. 

Golden Harvest is one of the very best all around sorts we have. 
Who ever knew it to fail .■' Reports come from Wyoming, the Da- 
kotas and Manitoba of her cheerful blooming under the most ad- 
verse conditions. A brave and beautiful child of the prairies, al- 
ways at her best, "glorying in tribulation," often blooming the first 
year and keeping it up ever after. That modest flower was born 
in 1890, and now the whole land is filled with her renown. Brother 
Rosenlield found a gem and didn't know it, putting them on the 
market at first at five dollars a hundred, when five dollars a root 
would have been nearer the thing. 

You could pick scores of costly imported ones with fine names 
and glowing descriptions, with big prices attached, and this beauti- 
ful little maiden will surpass them all. 

Grandiflora Rosea, Victoria Tricolor and many of Terry's are 
unfailing bloomers. 

Ploral Treasure is not as certain as Golden Harvest, and yet it 
had the grandest blooms after the worst untimely storm ever 
known in the west. 

We must pick out these hardy and sure bloomers for the great 
northwest. It will not do to send everything into those cold re- 
gions. We must have the hardiest and most floriferous to send 
them that will proclaim the evangel of beauty to those bleak lands. 
My impression is that our most reliable ones must advance in price. 



Peony manual 15 

Growers should keep a stock of the hardiest and push these to the 
front. 

Prices of the best peonies must advance also. It is impossible 
for Dessert, of France, to supply the demand. The best grades 
have gone up from three to five and even ten dollars. Mr. HoUis 
asks ten dollars for his best. But when you get a vigorous, healthy 
root which will make from 500 to 1,000 in ten years, really the first 
cost isn't much. 

Mme. Emile Lemoine, one of the best of the French varieties, 
is $3.50. It is a vigorous plant, and is not high at that. When 
Baroness Schroeder went up to $5 a root a gentleman immediately 
ordered twelve, and was cut down to six, for which he paid $30, 
and he got a bargain at that, for with care the six will make 6,000 
in ten years. 



CHAPTER VI 



Uariaticns from Soil and Climate 

These plants have their preferences of location and do much 
better in some places than in others. Some apples that do well in 
the east are worthless in the west. Man}' things that are favorites 
of one state are condemned in another. Though these flowers have 
a wide adaptation to all our northern states, yet some of them have 
their preferences. Charlemagne is highl}' spoken of in Rochester, 
N. Y., but is not a favorite in New England or Nebraska. Gigan- 
thea will do well in the east, but I never in five 3'ears secured a 
bloom from it. Mrs. Pleas sent out a glorious single peony which 
she claimed in Indiana had flowers nine inches across, but in six 
years I never got a bloom of any kind from it. Yet I could not 
doubt her word. 

Peonies bloom earlier in Nebraska than in Massachusetts. In 
1906, when the national show was held in Boston, we had an op- 
portunit}' to see the same sorts bloom in both states. Invariabl}' 
most kinds were of lighter color in the dryer air of Nebraska than 
in the moister air of Massachusetts. In the cooler air of Minnesota 
and Manitoba they have a deeper, richer color, on account of the 
cooler air, than 500 miles to the south. There is a great difference 
between the atmosphere of the Atlantic States, which carries 90 de- 
grees of moisture, and that of the trans-Missouri states, which gen- 
erally registers only 55 to 60, and yet this hardy flower thrives un- 
der both conditions. But it does not seem to prosper as well in the 
gulf states or in California. 

/.gain, some seasons there will be striking variations. There 
are off years with flowers as with fruits. Some j'ears the same 



i6 €. $. garrison's 

sorts will have inferior blossoms, and the next season they will be 
overwhelmed with beauty. The choicest, ^'^reat, double ones have 
such full flowers that, like the viburnum sterilis, they cannot bear 
seed, and yet sometimes such full-orbed ones as Floral Treasure, 
Festiva Maxima and La Tulipe, will have smaller and thinner 
blooms, so they can in rare instances produce seeds. But this is at 
the expense of the flower. 

A gentleman said to a florist, "This year I had such exquisite 
flowers from one of my varieties I wanted you to see them." The 
next 3'ear he was ashamed of them and did* not call around for the 
florist. Generally La Tulipe is one of the most attractive flowers, 
but the summer of '06 I failed to find a good specimen, either in Ne- 
braska or Massachusetts, 

Be Patient with Peonies 

A man bought a lot of Jeannie d' Arc of a responsible dealer. 
They bloomed the first year and he sent a most abusive letter to 
the grower, demanding his money back. The dealer refunded the 
money and the man kept both cash and roots. It is impossible 
for a full-orbed flower to come to its fullness the first year. A pur- 
chaser sent an angry letter to a dealer because Rubra Triumphans 
bloomed single the first year. He didn't buy singles, he wanted 
doubles, and nothing else. Now the ambitious plant, which is a 
ready bloomer, was anxious to do the best it could and so cut the 
coat according to the cloth. There was not material for a double 
one, and so it came single. Remember that the largest and grand- 
est flowers like Richardson's late ones and Marechal Vaillant, can- 
not bloom the first 3'^ear. It takes two or three years for them to 
do their best. It is so with the stately Shabona. In about four 
years it will be three to four feet tall, overlooking the whole field 
like a monarch of all. Such resplendent masses of beauty must 
have some capital and plenty of material for their dress parade. 

So don't be impatient. You will get paid for waiting. We 
need to understand these plant idiosyncrasies so we will not judge 
too harshl}'. 



CHAPTER Vn 



Diseases 



Now, reader, don't be frightened. The peony is one of the 
hardiest and healthiest plants on earth. It will endure almost 
everything, and yet there is nothing which cannot be killed or in- 
jured. Out on a clean piece of ground you might have 500 kinds 
and grow them 25 years and never have any disease whatever 







o 



w 

■z 

o 

D 

O 

O 




Mrs. Mary Brand 



Peony manual 17 

among them. But there are certain places and conditions which 
sometimes affect them. We reiterate one great cause of disease is 
too much fresh manure. This they cannot endure. 

CLUB FOOT. 

This must not be confounded with the foreign fungoid disease, 
which we often import with rare sorts. Plant cabbage, for instance, 
on a piece of ground well enriched. Let one crop follow another 
four or five years and you have club foot in them. This can be 
remedied by a generous sprinkling' of hard wood ashes. But it is 
better to grow some other crop a few years than to replant the 
same thing. With this disease the plants do not grow and bloom 
as you wish. There are no fibrous roots. The main ones may 
have grown a little and fed the plant by absorption. You dig them 
and they are a hard, sickly looking set. They are not smooth and 
clean. The ends of the roots are decayed. The sure remedy is to 
dig and divide, cutting off the diseased ends, and plant in good 
fresh soil which has had no manure for years. They will immedi- 
ately rally and you will soon have fine, clean roots and healthy 
plants. Too much fresh manure is the cause of this. 

SPOTTED LEAF. 

This appears in August generally, and is the result of summer 
showers followed by hot sun before the leaves can dry. It is merely 
a scald. We have known one patch to be badly infected, while 
another of the same variety, out in the open, would not be affected 
at all, because there was a chance for the wind to dry the foliage 
before the sun came out. This, at the worst, is not serious, for it 
comes on at the time when the plants are going into a dormant 
condition. 

THE RUST. 

This results generally from the same cause and about the same 
time. The plants look bad. If the trouble should occur in June 
it would be serious, but as it comes on in August and September, 
no harm results from it. A field may be affected one year and be 
entirely free the next. Too much rain and little wind will cause it. 

THE WILT, OR DROOPING DISEASE. 

This comes on suddenly. The stems wilt and die down to the 
root. This may occur so early in the season as to injure the plant. 
In connection with this you will see a white fungoid growth about 
the root. The earth should be scraped away and fresh earth, with 
a little lime, should be placed around them. Then, as soon as you 
can do so, say the last of August, they should be taken up and 
planted in an open space on fresh ground. Cut oi¥ all the infected 
parts and you will soon have fine, fresh roots. 



€. $. 1)drri$on'$ 



THE BLIGHT. 



This is one degree beyond the wilt, and results from the same 
causes — too closely shut in and stagnant, poorly drained soil. The 
ground has been too highly manured and there is not sufficient ven- 
tilation. In this case the wilt goes down into the root and kills it. 
This trouble occurs with tender varieties. I have known the Amer- 
ican born varieties to be strong and vigorous and bloom gloriously 
when many of Kelway's varieties would be utterly killed. It is part 
of the grower's business to find out which are the hardy and florif- 
erous ones and push them to the front. The strong peony which 
thrives and blooms must have the preference over the poor, puny, 
sickly thing fading away by its side. 

ROOT DECAY. 

Some very vigorous sorts which grow and bloom splendidly, if 
allowed to stand four or five years, will show a good deal of decay, 
and perhaps the root will be only a hollow shell. The very robust 
Late Rose is often affected, and the kind known as Granditiora Ru- 
bra, with others that seem robust and floriferous, will have this 
habit. It is not fatal, for if one part of the root is decayed, new 
portions form and the growth is kept up. This is remedied b}' dig- 
ging and cutting them up rather close, compelling them to form 
new roots. In a year or two dig and divide again, cutting off all 
decayed parts. Thus you will have an entirely new and healthy 
root system. This method is better than large divisions of old 
roots, for in that case you retain more or less decay. 

NEMATODES. 

Sometimes you dig up your strongest plants and find the roots 
covered with nodules very much like those produced by bacteria on 
alfalfa. You are alarmed, for you have heard of the work of the 
root louse on young apple trees and you do not know but 3^our 
whole ground will be affected. Don't worry. They are perfectly 
harmless. We often see them on the tallest and most vigorous 
plants. I have often picked out the most robust in the field and 
found these nodules on the rootlets. I have never known them to 
do the least harm. The mighty Shabona, strongest of all in 400, 
will have rootlets covered with them. Some kinds are affected 
when others are not. I do not think I ever dug or bought a Grand- 
iflora Rosea, but what it was loaded. This is one of our most pro- 
lific bloomers. Beside it there may be another row not affected at 
all. 

In cutting up roots we usually strip off the nodules. I don't 
know as it does any good, but they look better. You can easily 
get rid of them if you wish by the application of hard wood ashes 
and muriate and sulphate of potash. You can open a shallow fur- 
row and sprinkle on the ashes, then with the hoe mix it well with 
the soil, and then plant. But I should not bother. I never saw any 
difficulty but once, and that was in a lot of old roots, for which they 
seemed to have an affinity. These I thought were a little damaged. 



Peony manual 19 

CELLAR BLIGHT. 

Peony roots are the easiest things in the world to keep. Some 
will order in a lot from a distance, and if they are well packed will 
let them stay in the box for six months; and if they freeze, all the 
better, if not too severely, for it keeps them back, and" they incline 
to grow at a very low temperature. 

But you should have some care for your cellar. If it is close 
and has not been properly ventilated for years, 3'ou will find a white 
fungus in the earth, and this same fungus will fasten on your roots 
and they may be damaged, if not killed, that is, some of them. The 
summer before storing, your cellar should be well ventilated. The 
old earth should be taken out and that which is entirely fresh should 
be put in. 

OUT DOOR WINTERING. 

We have known of large quantities tfirown into a heap like po- 
tatoes, where they seemed to heat, and many in the spring would 
be partially decayed. They should never be put in large piles. 

The best way to store out of doors is to stand the roots right 
side up — a layer of them and then a layer of earth, and cover the 
whole with a foot of soil, and later, when the ground is frozen, 
throw some coarse manure over them. Of course it does not hurt 
to freeze them. 



CHAPTER VIII 



V)t Tmportcd Tungoid Disease 

Importers have found that man}^ plants from France were seri- 
ously diseased. Most of those procured from Lemoine, one of the 
world's greatest propagators, were badly affected. 

There is this peculiarity about this disease. While it clings 
like death to the infected root, it does not cross over to others. I 
have known rows so badly troubled they could neither grow nor 
bloom, and barely existed for three or four years, yet right beside 
them were those in perfect health, not at all affected. We see and 
know but little of it in the west; but in the fall of 1906 I procured 
twenty kinds from two leading growers in the east, and they were 
all affected. These were choice ones, imported from France. They 
were gnarled and knotted and had a sickly and uncanny look. They 
do have some line ones over there, and we want them, and pay al- 
most any price for them. Probably there is something in their mode 
of rapid propagation which makes them liable to disease. As the}^ 
do not seem to affect each other probably the young plants are in- 
oculated, and it stays with them. Of course on good, clean land, 
they will make some growth, but when divided the infection goes 
with them. 



20 C. $. l)arrlson'$ 

no €au$c of Jlldrtti 

The average grawer can live without these superfine ones. 
Should you ever get any, keep them by themselves and you need 
not fear contamination. 

Patronize home growers that have good stocks. Dessert, one 
of the leading French propagators, seems to send for the most part 
healthy stock. But those badly affected have come not only from 
France, but also from Holland and England. Why take such risks 
when you can get just as good ones at home.-* Rosenfield, Richard- 
son, Hollis, Terry and other American growers, raise vigorous and 
healthy plants, and some of them are as beautiful as their foreign 
rivals. Too many of us think an article is of little account unless 
it bears a foreign brand. But a good many foreigners, like Count 
Boni, are not worth the price paid for them. 

I had supposed with others that this disease was produced by 
nematodes of a different kind from those that work in the rootlets. 
Specimens of diseased roots were sent to Amherst and the report 
came back that they were eel worms, caused from too much fresh 
manure, and that the winter would kill them, when the samples 
sent had endured several severe winters. I sent some to be plant- 
ed on one of the bleak hills of Minnesota, to see what 40 below 
would do for them, but we were on the wrong track, as the accom- 
panying letter will show, and this is from the highest authority in 
the land. I sent specimens of both kinds and asked Dr. Bessey to 
carefully note the difference between the external and internal nem- 
atodes. We give his answer: 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 

MiAMA, Fla., November g, igo6. 
Mr. C. S. Harrison, 829 York Avenue, York, Neb. 

Dear Mr. Harrison: — Your letter of November 3d, regarding diseased pe- 
onies, is at hand. I received the specimens of plants, diseased in two different 
ways, a few days ago. The one which you described as the harmless form of 
disease is the one caused by the nematode Heterodera Radicicola, the ordi- 
nary root-knot nematode which is abundant in green houses in the north and 
on most cultivated plants in the south. I have observed it myself on over 200 
species of plants, and have reports of its occurring on about 130 species more. 
This species is very destructive to many plants, but often causes no apparent 
injury to others. The latter seems to be the case with the peony. 

The ])lants with the serious disease with the enlarged roots, much to my 
surprise, were found to contain no nematodes. The disease is apparently 
caused by some other organism, although, in many respects resembling injury 
due to nematodes. 

I have planted out the roots and will make further study of the trouble. In 
case I find out the real cause, I will let you know at once. You see that 1 con- 
firm the correctness of your observation that the two diseases were entirely dif- 
ferent, although superficially they resemble one another. The only point of 
difference between us is that I find that the serious trouble is not due to any 
kind of nematode. Very truly yours, 

Ernest A. Bessey, 
Pathologist in Charge, Subtropical Laboratory. 

Thus we are compelled to drop the matter. Some of our fore- 
most men are at work at it, and some remedy will yet be discov- 
ered. Some are using lime and sulphur; others lye. Carbolic acid 



Peony manual 21 

is being tried. If it proves to be a fungoid disease, then it would 
seem as if some kind of fungicide would reach the case. To pre- 
vent potato blight the seed is soaked in coperas water. Who knows 
but what this would be the thing. -^ Doubtless when the societ3''s 
manual comes out the knotty problem will be solved. We can go 
no further with it now. 

We would suggest that if any are importing the}' insist on abso- 
lutely healthy stock, and if any are sent seriously affected, that the}' 
be rejected as unmerchantable stock, thus compelling foreign grow- 
ers to stamp out the disease instead of transferring it to us. 



CHAPTER IX 



Preparing the Ground. 

Peonies do best of course in good rich ground. If you follow 
a row over a clay hill and down through rich valley loam you will 
see the rankest growth and finest flowers in the deepest soil. The 
best success I ever had was on ground rich by nature and heavily 
coated with hen manure two years before so that by the time it 
was planted it was thoroughly incorporated in the soil so as to be a 
part of it. 

There are more failures in using fresh manure in large quanti- 
ties than from any other source. I knew one man who had a fair 
piece of ground on which his plants had done well, but he wanted 
them to do better, so he secured a large amount of fresh manure 
and mixed it with the soil, about half and half. It was a costly job 
involving much labor, but he was sure it would pay as he had heard 
that they were rank feeders and required rich soil. 

He planted them and a sicklier lot of plants you never saw. 
The next year they were no better. He dug some of them up and 
they were club footed. They had no fine, fibrous roots, and what 
little growth they made was by absorption through the main roots. 
The ends were rotten. They had the dyspepsia and had it bad, 
and some of them died with the nausea of it. 

They would have done far better with no fertilizing whatever, 
and, as the ground had been raising them several years, they should 
not have been planted there again for at least two or three years. 
An enthusiastic clergyman with a commendable zeal to do some- 
thing outside his profession wrote: "I have just planted the 
peonies you sent. I first dug a trench and enriched it heavily. I 
planted them and put hen manure all around them and now I am 
looking for splendid results. I wrote him, "to take up every root 
before it is poisoned and set them on fresh ground which had 
received no fertilizing for two years; you will make an utter failure 
if you don't." 

It is very natural to wish to do our very best, especially if we 
have costly plants. When I was beginning I knew the danger of 



22 



€. $. garrison's 



application to the roots, but as I had some dollar sorts I wished to 
hurry I put an inch or two of hen manure on the surface. In the 
spring I was surprised to see the plants thus treated had not start- 
ed. Digging down I saw that all the ground seemed nauseated 
with the heavy dose and a white mould had gone down for six inches 
and the peony roots were wrapped up in a white mantle of it. I 
dug them all up and planted in good ground which had never been 
fertilized in any way and they recovered and made a fine growth. 
If I had left them probably every one would have died. 

So in the preparation of the ground be sensible about it and 
don't overdo it. We notice that in New England they do very 
well on poor soil to which a heavy coat of swamp muck has been 
applied, and even where the soil is light, experts are careful to 
avoid too heavy a coat of stable manure. 

In planting for flowers you can enrich heavily; take a strong 
pair of horses put the plow down beam deep, then let down the 
clevis and throw another furrow out of the first, thus stirring the soil 
eighteen inches deep. You can raise a crop of potatoes and work 
the ground well and in two years plant your peonies. Or you can dig 
a trench two or three feet deep and put six inches of cow manure in the 
bottom and earth on top of this. By the time the roots get down to 
this reserve it will be well rotted and in condition to furnish strong 
plants and fine flowers. 

For growing roots for the market some dealers, after two 
years, will cut them up, sell the largest and put the smallest back 
in the same row to save the danger of mixing. This may do once 
but never should be tried twice. Ordinarily peonies should not be 
planted on the same ground, for two reasons. First, you do not 
plant potatoes on the same ground continuously. You prefer to ro- 
tate, and these plants do much better on fresh ground. Then 
some roots will be left and in a year or two they will come up and 
give you bad mixtures, and above all things we must keep our va 
rieties separate. 

We have found it to be an excellent plan to plant in fairly 
good soil in September, and in early winter cover the whole ground 
with four inches of coarse manure and spade this in the next spring, 
or let it lie and rot and work it in with the cultivator. This en- 
riches the ground and feeds the plants without surfeiting. And 
when it rains in the growing season it is like watering with liquid 
manure. The rich coating does not come in direct contact with 
the roots. 



Planting. 

Be careful not to break the bud. Insert the spade, make a 
hole to fit the root ; insert that. Have the bud two to three inches be- 
low the surface, pack the earth firmly around it. In this way a man 
can plant from i.ooo to 2,000 in a day. If the root is long you need 
not dig full depth for it. Incline it at an angle of 45 degrees. Be 
careful always to cover the bud well. Some men plow a furrow 



Peony manual 23 

with a heavy team, set up the plants along the edge of it and 
throw another furrow on them, and plant every third furrow. This 
may do for cheap kinds, but not for first-class ones. 



CHAPTER X 



1)0W to Cripple the Peony Business 

In the neighborhood of many of our large cities there will be 
some peony growers who think they must sell their blooms for any 
price they can get. Of course they wish to sell the roots, but never 
stop to think what effect cheap flowers will have on the market for 
them. They will rush into town and even underbid themselves to 
get rid of the flowers at any price. Some growers have sold blooms 
as low as 50 cents per 100. A case comes to us of a man who sold 
his crop to a Greek florist for 75 cents per 100, and he sold them 
for 75 cents per dozen. Sometimes growers will force down the 
prices so that department stores will retail them at a cent apiece. 
How is a man going to sell the roots when he has simply ruined the 
whole business by cheapening them .'' Suppose you have some very 
choice kinds like Mme. Emile Lemoine, Baroness Schroeder, Mad- 
am d' Vernville or Ville d' Nancy, worth from $1.00 to $5.00 a root; 
how are you going to sell them when the would-be purchaser will 
laugh in your face and say "I can buy all the piny blooms I want 
for a cent apiece.''" If a farmer wants to sell a fat steer for $50, he 
don't put the price of dressed beef down to $5 per 100 and tallow to 
two cents a pound. 

Flowers fit for market should never be sold for less than two 
and a half to three cents each. It doesn't pay to handle them for 
less than that. Flood the market with cheap flowers and you will 
have a lot of very cheap roots on hand. 

What shall we do with our flowers then .f* Let them alone! Do 
not use them to ruin your business. Hold up the price and you will 
only need to sell half as many. Keep them for your neighbors to 
look at. I have known people to go 200 miles to see a field in full 
bloom, and it paid. There is not a more gorgeous display on this 
earth than a large field of them in the full splendor of their beauty. 
Plant your grounds for 

B Public ParR 

You will probably need a good wire fence around it, but people 
can come and see them just as well. It is astonishing how much en- 
thusiasm such a spectacle as 50,000 blooms will awaken. Electric 
cars will be crowded with people going to see them. A procession 
of carriages bearing delighted spectators will be there. And as they 
see the glory and sniff the delicious fragrance the very air will be 



24 €. $. l)arri$oit'$ 

thick with expressions of delight. Then you can sell peonies. 
People can go in, pick out their favorites and leave their orders. In 
the east we have seen roads lined with autos going fifty miles to a 
gorgeous peony show, off in the country. Such a garden be- 
comes a Mecca, and you see pilgrims hurry to it from all directions. 
The best sales are often made from these fields of splendor. Leave 
them to come to the fullness of their beauty and you will fill your 
own soul with a delightful enthusiasm and have more confidence in 
3'ourself and in your productions. You will not be on the borders 
of uncertainty. If you have agents in the field call them in and 
have them spend days imbibing the loveliness, gaining knowledge 
also, so that they can give the facts to your customers. Having 
seen them in all their beauty, they can sell much better than if 
they simply read descriptions from the catalogue. 

It is strange that an}^ grower can be so short-sighted. He 
raises peonies to sell and then proceeds to beat down the price of 
the roots to the lowest notch. What is a plant worth that can 
bring only a one cent flower.'' 

Peony blooms of the best sorts are the finest flowers on earth. 
The late James Hartshorn wrote us that he was selling flowers of 
the Festiva Maxima for $3.00 per dozen, and they were worth it. 
And so are other choice ones. Florists should aid the growers in 
making a distinction between the common and the liner sorts. The}' 
should never be put on a level. Above all, though, never sell these 
blooms of any variety as if they were only a lot of weeds. 



Cwenty-Tour Best Sons 

Some one in Florists' Review called for the names of two 
dozen of the best varieties for cut flowers. The replies show a 
difference in taste and probably also a difference in soil and cli- 
mate. 

PEONIES FOR CUT FLOWERS. 

Please give us a list of twenty-four varieties of the best peonies 
for cut flower purposes. I have never grown such, and would like 
to know the names of some specialists where the roots can be had 
in quantities. E. T. B., Indiana. 

To obtain a list of the best varieties of peonies for cut flower 
purposes, the best thing to do would be to correspond with some 
of the dealers. In growing peonies for cut flowers we would cer- 
tainly not recommend that such a large number be used; five or 
six kinds grown in quantity would be far better than twenty-four 
varieties, a few of each kind. 

We cannot give a list of more than fourteen varieties of peonies 
which we would recommend for cut flower purposes out of the list 
we are now growing. We have many varieties, but they have not 
been sufficiently tested as yet. The list is as follows: Amabilis 
Grandiflora, white, very large, double, fringed petals, fine, very 
sweet; Caroline Mather, purple crimson, large, double and very 



Pwny manual 25 

dark; Delicatissima, rose, large, full, fine, sweet; Duchesse de 
Nemours, rose-pink, very large, double, sweet, one of the best; 
Elegans, outside petals dark pink, large salmon center, loose, fine, 
sweet; Festiva Maxima, creamy white with small center of car- 
mine, round, early, in clusters, sweet; Francoise Ortegat, dark purple 
crimson, very large, fine, deep, double, and sweet; Fulgida, very 
dark crimson, good; Humei, rose, full, large, late, one of the best; 
La France, pink outside petals, with yellowish center, very fine; 
Perfection, outside petals rose lilac, inside salmon, sweet; Reine 
Hortense, pink, large, full globular, fine, fragrant; Triumph du 
Nord, violet rose, lilac shade; Victoria, rose, center yellowish. 

W. & T. Smith Company, 

Geneva, N. Y. 

Regarding a list of twenty-four varieties of peonies which we 
consider best for cut flower purposes, we are pleased to name you 
the following list: Achillea, blush white, early; Alba Sulphurea, 
white, late; Alexander Dumas, pink and salmon; Beaute Francaise, 
flesh pink; Charles Verdier, lilaceous pink; Couronne d'Or, white; 
Delachei, purple crimson; Duke of Wellington, sulphur white; 
Duchesse de Nemours (Calot), white; Duchesse de Nemours 
(Guerin), pink, early; Festiva, white, early; Festiva Maxima, 
white, early; Humei Carnea, pink, late; Louis Van Houtte, crim- 
son, late; Mme. Breon, rosy flesh white, early; Mme. Forel, pink, 
late; Nee Plus Ultra, pink; Mme. Coste, tender rose and white; 
Queen Victoria, flesh white; Jennie Lind, pink, early; Lady Bram- 
well, pink; Officinalis Rubra fl. pi., crimson, earliest; Officinalis 
Rosea Superba, rose pink, early; Rubra Triumphans, crimson, 
early. Cottage Gardens Co. 

We herewith submit a list of twenty-four varieties of peonies 
for cut flower purposes arranged in their several colors. We have 
taken into consideration the various times of blooming, keeping 
qualities, fragrance, size of flower, and strong stems, in making 
this selection: 

White — Festiva Maxima, Queen Victoria, M. Dupont, Couron- 
ne d'Or, Madam Crousse, La Tulipe, Madame de Vefneville, Marie 
Lemoine, Duchess de Nemours. 

Pink — Beaute Francaise, Delicatissima, Livingstone, Princess 
Beatrice, M. Jules Elie, Edulis Superba, Alexandrina. 

Red — Adolph Rosseau, Souvenir de I'Exposition Universelle, 
Modeste Guerin, Delachei, Marechal de MacMahon, M. Krelage, 
Richardson's Rubra Superba, Felix Crousse. 

Peterson Nursery. 

Of course tastes differ. With me the two very best are Baron- 
ess Schroeder and Golden Harvest. In the west we need different 
kinds from those required in the east. Most of Kelway's are of 
little account out here; we need something strong and robust that 
will endure heat and drought. I might have mentioned some of 
Terry's, which are of especial merit on account of robustness, hard- 
iness and beauty. His Etta, Victor, Morning Star, Prince of Wales, 
Bell Hough, Sada Evans and Cynthia stand well at the head. 



26 €. $. Rarrfson's 

Here is my list of the best 24 varieties of peonies for cut flowers: 
Baroness Schroeder, Festiva Maxima, Golden Harvest, Madam de 
Verneville, Duke of Dorchester, Belle de Nancy, Mt. Blanc, 
Couronne d'Or, Pottsii Alba, Livingstone, M. Geissler, Madame 
Emil Lemoine, Floral Treasure, Richardson's Grandiflora, Rich- 
ardson's Rubra Superba, La Tulipe, Marie Crousse, Modeste Guer- 
in, Marie Lemoine, Mons. Dupont, Prince Imperial, Sunbeam, 
Louis Van Houtte, L'Esperence. C. S. Harrison. 



CHAPTER XI 



Peonies as Cur Tlowers 

While these are the grandest flowers for out-door display, some 
of them are without rivals for decoration. Cut just as the buds are 
opening, they will keep a long time, a week or more, though some 
kinds will keep longer than others. The usual way is to cut them 
and put them in water immediately, so the}^ cannot wilt. Flowers 
suitable for cutting should have long, strong stems which will hold 
the flower well up without drooping. Some, of wondrous beauty, 
like Terry's General Grant, are defective in stems, those of this 
kind being often of a Z shape, so it is impossible to use them only 
with a short stem. Many a gorgeous beauty must take a second 
place for lack of a strong support. It is well to change the water 
at least once a day. When this is done cut off a portion of the stem; 
some make a slit in the end to give the water a better chance at 
more surface. 



Tor Shipping 

The following course is generally taken: The plants are cut at 
night, just as the buds are opening. They are then put in a tub of 
water. The bottom leaves are stripped off, as they would rot under 
water. In the morning they are carefully packed in a paper-lined 
box. We often put them in bundles of twenty or so, and bind the 
stems in moss and wrap them in paper. The tops should be light- 
ly wrapped also; waxed paper is generally used. They seem to 
keep better this way than when packed without the moss. This 
process, however, has its limitations. It seems impossible to keep 
them in transit over 48 hours. 

At the Chicago and Boston expositions we watched matters 
closely. Some were sent from New York. They had been in cold 
storage first. But they did not come out in good shape. They had 
a bedraggled look. They can be kept in cold storage for along 



Peony manudl 27 

time, provided the air is dry. If it is moist, the petals will fall. If 
the conditions are right, Richardson's Grandiflora Rubra, one of the 
latest and grandest, can be kept for three weeks. Put in just be- 
fore opening, it lies dormant in the cold, and when placed in a 
warm room it immediately opens in all its glory and retains its form 
and beauty for several days. 

Hitherto there seems to have been a limit in shipping. We 
asked the president, C. W. Ward, if he knew any mode of packing 
by which they could take a journey requiring over 48 hours, and he 
said he did not. This is from one of the foremost florists of the 
country, and it seemed too bad. 

We have shipped several hundred miles, packing with the great- 
est care. One shipment, which required three days, was half use- 
less and had to be thrown away. 

^■ 

JInotbcr Process 

S. B. Stewart, of Omaha, gives this experience: While at 
work for a florist years ago an employe cut some lilies and carelessly 
left them on the bench over night. When the proprietor saw them 
lying there sadly wilted he was very indignant. Mr. Stewart told 
him not to give up. He cut off a portion of the stems, put them in 
warm water, and immediately they revived. Then he commenced 
treating other flowers in the same way. His directions are these: 
The petals of a flower in bloom are tender; they break readily. Let 
them wilt until they will bend without breaking. Ship them in this 
wilted condition. Said he, "They can be shipped to California." 
When they reach their destination, cut off a small portion of the 
stem and put them in warm water. It is astonishing how soon they 
will revive. 

Mr. Stewart was in the habit of going over to Father Terry's 
to get peonies for his store. The old man was anxious for him to 
keep them from wilting. "Never mind," he would say, and he al- 
ways took them the twelve miles in his wagon without any water 
whatever. Then on his arrival he would restore them. 

Those of us who were at the Boston show will remember a lot 
of Richardson's Rubra Superba that came from Cincinnati and had 
been a long time on the way. They were badly wilted, and we 
shook our heads. But they were immediately plunged into water, 
when they revived and took the first prize over the home-grown 
ones. So here is a point we must not forget. There is certainly 
something in it. 



Torclng Peonies 

The question often comes up "Can we in any way crowd these 



28 €. $. Fjarrlson's 

along so that we can enjoy them on Easter?" This is often done. 
You can do it if you have the proper conditions. 

We are glad to give here directions furnished by Fred W. 
Timme, in Florists' Exchange: 

"As long as the crops of flowers from open air peony fields can 
readily be sold at good prices, no matter when they come, florists 
will not be over-anxious to go into peony forcing under glass. But 
every now and then an inquiry as to how it is done, and whether or 
not it pays, comes from parties who evidently seem to be under the 
impression that the forcing of peonies as a money-making venture 
has escaped consideration, has been overlooked by growers in search 
of something new and eminently profitable. No fear of that; it has 
been tried here and there, on and off, extensively and otherwise; 
and the fact that peonies can successfully be forced has been fully 
established; but whether it will ever grant a margin of profit above 
that assured by outdoor culture has yet to be learned. 

"Peonies, like most hardy plants, and more so than many, suf- 
fer a severe set-back b}' being forced. It takes them years to over- 
come the consequences of the unnatural ordeal. This is especially 
true with the Moutan and Arborea varieties, just those best suited 
for forcing and the only kinds good for pot culture. These are pot- 
ted up early in the spring, better yet in the preceding fall, are 
grown on in their pots during summer outdoors, ripened off in the 
fall and forced out in the latter part of winter, beginning with 45 or 
50 degrees in January or February. After a good set of buds has 
been secured, the temperature may gradually be raised to 60 de- 
grees. These plants will be in bloom quite early in the spring, 
probably at Easter, but after that will not be fit for forcing for sev- 
eral years, and must regain their strength in open field culture. In 
like manner the Japanese single-flowered varieties, very showy and 
fine for conservatory display, are handled. Of course, where the 
actual loss of plants by forcing is a matter of small concern, severe 
forcing of well-established plants may be practiced with good re- 
sults, and flowers be had in mid-winter, even at Christmas. 

"Of herbaceous kinds none but the early varieties yield to real 
forcing, and then only under moderate heat and slow movement. 
The double, and especially the single-flowered Peonia Tenuifolia 
comes early, and plants of these, established in solid ground, cause 
little difficulty. The foliage is fine, and the flowers are of a rich, 
glowing color; but they do not last long, and sell no better than 
dahlias, which are raised with less expense. The varieties of Pe- 
onia Officinalis force easily enough, and come earliest of any; but 
the plants take up much room, arestragglingand bulky, and then the 
flowers are so far from being anything especially alluring to bu3^ers 
that it seems wiser to leave peonies of this type out of doors, where 
they belong. A whole field of tree or herbaceous peonies of some 
good early sorts may be had in bud and bloom from three to four 
weeks earlier than their ordinary flowering season, by erecting a 
portable sash house over them. No artificial heat is required in 
bringing them into bloom. This could be repeated for two or three 



Peony manual ' 29 

seasons without weakening the plants to any great extent. But 
then, in doing so, the northern grower would not be greath' ahead 
of his southern competitor, whose cut reaches our central markets 
about three weeks before the great bulk of the season's output is 
harvested. Fred \V. Timme." 

This business is in its infanc3\ We have tried it ourselves 
enough to know that there is something in it. We suggest that the 
most prolific bloomers be used, like L'Esperence, Golden Harvest, 
Baroness Schroeder, and those of that class which are always ready 
to bloom on the least provocation. 

The process requires some care and patience. We would sug- 
gest a plan for outdoor forcing, which can be readily used: Take 
earh' blooming sorts, plant on ground properly prepared; set a foot 
apart each way, so as to have them take as little space as possible; 
build a pen around them and cover the top with good, strong cot- 
ton cloth, which is much cheaper than glass. You will be surprised 
at the heat which will gather under cover. Your plants will come 
on with a bound and 3'ou will have flowers much earlier than if 
grown in the open. Almost the sole objection to peonies is that 
they bloom only a short time, when, if properly cared for, as we 
show elsewhere, we can enjoy them for months. By forcing, by 
planting early and late varieties, and by other methods mentioned 
in this manual, we can have their companionship a long time. 



CHAPTER XII 



The following tributes are from the Great Northwest: 

U. S. Experiment Station, Brookings, S. D. 
Mr. C. S. Harrison. 

Dear Sir: I was glad to receive your letter and to learn that you are doing- 
so much in ornamentals. In bulletin 72 I have mentioned my experience with 
the peony. The following note may serve your purpose: The Tree Peonies 
are tender, and winter kill in the northwest, but the Herbaceous Peonies are 
perfectly hardy in South Dakota without winter protection. We have many 
varieties under cultivation here, and all appear hardy, and flower profusely. 
Of all herbaceous plants the Herbaceous Peony should be the first one to 
plant in the garden of every dweller on the northwestern prairies. Thev are 
as hardy as pie plant, and do well with no more care than that given to pie 
plant. It pays to manure both plants for the best results. The number of 
cultivated varieties of peonies runs up to a thousand or more, and the list is 
continually being increased by the raising of new varieties from seed. This 
will be an interesting line of work for the amateur, as he may obtain varieties 
superior, or at least ecjual to, any of the many sorts now grown by nurservmen 
and florists, but the planter who wants a sure thing will prefer to plant named 
sorts. The peony is steadily gaining favor with florists all over the country, 
and some plant them by the acre for the purpose of growing flowers in quanti- 
ties for market. Some people call the peony the "King of Flowers," but this, 
title is probabl}- claimed by many other flowers, each one having its devoted 
adherents. " Yours truly, 

Prof. N. E. Hansen. 



30 • C. $. garrison's 

Brandon, Manitoba. 
Mr. C. S. Harrison. 

Dear :Sir: Your letter of December 24th received. The Herbaceous 
Peonies are doing exceedingly well here. Our collection is a small one, but we 
find no difficulty whatever in wintering them, even without protection. We 
simply keep them free from grass and weeds, and let nature do the rest. In 
mv opinion, they are by far the best perennial for cultivation in this northern 
climate. Some of our plants have as many as sixty bunches of blossoms. I 
am looking forward to the time when we will have a complete collection of this 
beautiful flower here. If at any time you wish me to test a root or so, I shall 
be glad to do so. I shall tr}' and send you a cut showing some of the peonies 
growing here. We are getting a very large immigration from the United States 
to this country, and you can tell your people to bring the peony roots along 
with them, as they grow well all over Manitoba and the northwest. We do 
not even mulch or manure our plants. The soil is rich, and the snow, though 
not deep, is sufficient for protection. Yours, 

S. A. Bedford. 

This testimony is also substantiated by Dr. William Saunders, 
general superintendent of all the experiment stations. I have been 
sending some to Assiniboia, a province of northwest Canada, where 
they also do well. A friend told me of an article he saw concerning 
their successful growth in Alaska. So, when we have flowers 
•called for from Mobile to the Arctic circle, we need not fear we 
will overstock the market right away. 

It is surely a matter of encouragement that the vast empire 
of the great northwest, reaching beyond our own bleak prairies up 
through Canada to the Arctic circle, is the very paradise for the 
finest flower that blooms. 

We have scores of letters from various portions of these ex- 
tensive regions and all speak in the highest praise of this favorite 
flower. Orders for them grow more and more numerous every 
3'ear. It is a source of delight that these queenly flowers willingly 
take up their abode in the very bleakest portions of these vast do- 
mains, and a few roots soon grow into strong clumps which are 
packed and crowded with masses of beauty. 

Our Peony Society should use every means to disseminate a 
knowledge of these heroic flowers. 



CHAPTER XIII 



Cbe l^ardincss of tbc Peony 

We know of nothing in this world which has the vigor andhar- 
■diness of this plant. The root is like the grip-sack of the traveler 
which contains the supplies for his journey. It will come to us from 
Europe and bring in compact form foliage, flower and life. We 
know of nothing that will stand more hard treatment, exposure and 
neglect. It may be left on the ground, exposed to the sun, for days, 



Peony manual 31 

and be badly withered, and yet it will revive and grow. Often we 
iind, where we have cut up plants in the fall, that tiny buds, so 
small as to escape notice, after freezing and thawing all winter, will 
throw out shoots and tiny rootlets, and we have often saved them. 
One spring two roots of La Tulipe were left in the barn two months, 
till, to all appearance they were dead. They were planted the 
iirst of June, and they immediately revived and grew. 

One winter we had several boxes stored in a root cellar. They 
were poorly packed. Someone left the door open and they were all 
frozen solid. The door was closed, and they remained frozen till 
spring, when they were planted, without the loss of one. It is no 
uncommon thing to keep a lot in boxes seven months at a time with 
but slight packing. I once had a remarkable experience with a lot 
from Kelway, England. They came over in reasonable time, but 
were delayed in a warm office at Lincoln, Neb., a month before I 
was notified. The box was dried out and full of cracks, and the 
moss was dry as powder. The roots were black, and snapped like 
sticks. The buds were shriveled. I had the expressman look them 
over, and all pronounced them dead. There were thirty roots, 
some of which cost $2.50 each. Of course the express company had 
to pay damages. Taking them home about the first of November, 
I cut off the dead roots and planted the buds in moist earth in a box 
in the cellar. At the end of a month the buds began to swell. De- 
cember ist, they were planted out, and were frozen all winter. 
They all grew but one, and one of them bloomed. Of course it 
took an extra year to form new roots. They seemed much like the 
Mexican resurrection plant. 

They are like the Rocky Mountain burrow that bears any amount 
of misuse or neglect, and yet patiently plods along. Often for j^ears 
they must bear neglect in grass, or the hard earth trampled solid 
about them. And yet they hang on, doing the best they can. Yet 
while they patientl}' endure so much, there is nothing that responds 
with more grateful alacrity to generous treatment. A neighbor had 
an Alba Sulphuria, which had bloomed in utter neglect for 25 years. 
I bought the clump, he retaining a couple of roots. He planted 
his in the grass and hard earth, digging but a little space for them. 
In four years they have not bloomed or grown. They could not. 
They could only live. I planted my part in the richest ground, and 
how they increased and blossomed. In about four years I had near- 
ly one hundred plants. We have cut up clumps that stood in sod 
nearly 25 years, the roots of which were so badly decayed the}' could 
not bloom. By planting the buds with only a little root attached, 
we soon had fine, healthy plants. 



CHAPTER XIV 



CborougDbred Un Stock and Cboroudbbred Tlowers 

I used to keep thoroughbred Jerseys and Shorthorns. Though 
I enjoyed it they were a constant care. One night I was awakened 



32 €. $. garrison's 

by a fearful crash. I wakened the boys and told them to bring the 
lanterns. Rushing out, I saw in the barn two balls of fire. They 
belonged to the Shorthorn. He weighed a ton and every pound 
of him was in lighting trim. Aiming a pitchfork a suitable distance 
below those blazing orbs, I caught him in the nose. Then the 
lights came. We secured him and led him back to his stall. It 
seemed the Jersey got loose and thought it a good time to take 
revenge. The Shorthorn tore himself loose, drove the Jersey back 
to his stall, and with one tremendous thrust, hurled him through 
the side of the barn. I was younger then, but I don't want any 
more. With peonies you know where they are nights. They do- 
not tear themselves in wire fences. They do not eat their heads 
off in winter. The food costs nothing. You can go off on your 
summer vacation, and they will be there when you come back. 
They multiply as fast as live stock. There is more money in them, 
legitimate, honest gain. Sixteen years ago a man laid out $50 for 
choice strains. For some time he has been selling $1,000 worth 
a year. 

I bought a fine plant for $1. In five years I sold $18 worth, 
and had eighteen roots left. One choice variety in the same length 
of time brought in $34.00, and I had fifteen roots left. One fall I 
had an order for 500 common mixed sorts for $6 per 100. It took 
but a small piece of ground to furnish them. My man, who had 
worked on the farm, was astonished. "Here," said he, "we have 
dug $30 from a few rods of ground, and if we got that from two 
acres of farm land we would do well." 

Is peony raising a fad, that will soon pass away.'' It cannot 
pass; people will not allow it. In staid old Europe the interest has 
fairly commenced. In our eastern states, where they can raise 
azalias, kalmias and rhododendrons, the demand is on the increase. 
Most of the stock of western growers yet goes east. In the west 
we cannot raise the flowers above mentioned. They will have 
nothing to do with us. They are aristocratic easterners that will 
die before they will live with us. I thought our hot suns and dry- 
ing winds too much, so I got 1,000 of the hardiest kinds I could hear 
of, and put them under a screen. Kalmias, azalias, rhododendrons, 
all dead in a year, despite the tenderest care. Do you wonder that 
we love a flower that will step in and take their places, one that 
never grumbles nor pines, and is never homesick, that is more fra- 
grant and lovely than the best of them? I have attended some of 
the most famous flower shows of the east, and here in Nebraska we 
can raise as fine peonies as anywhere on earth. We plant roses, 
and they kill down and dwindle away, but the peony stays by us. 
Millions are needed for our western states. Billions are needed for 
the Dakotas, Minnesota and Manitoba, where they do as well as in 
England. When the finest flowers on earth are fitted for such a 
vast empire, and they will grow and thrive where other things will 
not, you can depend on them. 

Talk about ginseng for profit ! Go to raising peonies. This is 
work for ladies. Already many are going into it. There is much 




L' ESPERENCE 



Peony manual 33 

less care and expense than in raising chickens, though as hght work 
the two go together. The hen is mightier than the sword. She 
seems insignificant, yet her produce and progeny every year are 
greater than the output of all the gold mines, and the more eggs 
and chickens you raise, the higher they get. The two enterprises 
are in woman's realm. Mrs. Pleas, of Indiana, has raised some fine 
new sorts. One she sold for $ioo, and another for $150, besides 
having thousands of dollars' worth of enjoyment from her floral 
friends. 

When you take into consideration the growing value of cut flow- 
ers, you have three harvests from your peony bed, one in spring, 
the blossoms in summer, and again root sales in the autumn. The 
delightful and profitable employment, together with the fascination 
of raising new kinds from seed, will give a zest and joy to living 
which cannot be found in any indoor employment. There is the 
delight of seeing a transformation going on, the brown earth put- 
ting on robes of beaut}' while you are culling forms of loveliness 
out of the unseen, taking the rainbow and moulding into shapes of 
wondrous fascination. 

In Planting, tbe Condition of the Bud must Be taken Into Jlccount. 

This is very important. The peony usually goes into a dor- 
mant condition about the middle of August. I have had excellent 
success in planting at that time, for the buds that form for next 
spring are small and tough, and they can be handled without dan- 
ger of injuring them. As a general thing, however, September is 
the best time, for if very hot in August it will not do to ship. If 
packed too moist they might rot. When planted at this time little 
rootlets begin to grow and the plant is all ready for its spring 
growth. You will notice that those left in the ground and appar- 
ently dormant are making a fine growth of fibrous rootlets, and the 
longer they are left the more numerous they will be. The buds are 
growing too, and often old roots will have a net of rootlets around 
them, and the buds will be much larger and more liable to 
damage than if planted earlier. Of course peonies can be planted 
any time from the first of September till the middle of the follow- 
ing May. But we are speaking of the best time. I have often 
planted strong, left over roots from the first to the middle of May, 
and if the ground is rich and in the best condition, have cut good 
crops of flowers from them a few weeks after planting. 

By the middle of August the bud is short and tough, but it be- 
gins to grow a little in September and keeps it up till frost. If the 
fall is warm it has made considerable growth by the middle of No- 
vember. It is then much more tender and snaps more readily. 
Then in the spring they start very early and the buds are more ten- 
der still, and as they grow it is more difficult to handle them. 

It is very trying to the grower for orders to come when his 
plants are six inches high, as is often the case. Movingat this time 



34 ' €. $. garrison's 

shocks them. When peonies are needed for the spring it is better 
to dig in the fall and keep them dormant until sold or planted. 



1)0W to H^ep Cbcm BacK in tbc Spring 

We do not all have cold storage, and unless very cold they will 
start if kept moist at a low temperature. A little freezing does not 
hurt them. I prefer to have mine down as near the freezing point 
as possible. When spring opens, instead of packing in wet moss, 
keep them cool and dry. Even if wilted, it will not hurt them. By 
putting them in water or moist earth they are immediately restored. 
One spring I received a lot from France in an open crate. They 
were very badly wilted. Putting them in water soon revived them. 
All lived and grew and some of them bloomed. Of course it is not 
necessary to keep them very dry. They can be kept on a rack with 
cannas and dahlias. 

When you till orders with them you can put them in rather wet 
moss and sprinkle them with a little water, and when they reach 
their destination they will be in a plump and healthy condition. 

This plant is very remarkable for its hardiness. One fall a 
dealer had a rush order. The purchaser must have the roots at the 
earliest possible date. Gathering together, he covered them heav- 
ily, but the night was cold, and in the morning they were hard as 
cobble stones. He picked out the hardest ones to keep at home for 
testing and then packed the rest in moss and sent them on. Exam- 
ining his own he found them perfect, and he was praised for the 
fine condition in which they were received. What other plant could 
stand such usage .'* These can be sent any time in the winter, if 
well packed, with perfect safety. 



CHAPTER XV 



Leading Uarictics 

We have been at great pains to unravel the tangle, and if pos- 
sible secure the name which properly belongs to the variety. 

We shall not give a long list. We wish to give those that have 
been satisfactory. There are many new ones of merit that have re- 
cently been produced, but they are so scarce and high they are not 
available. So we omit them. Some are not hardy. The}' are 
nipped in the bud by late frosts and do not bloom annually. Many 
are slow propagators. 

At much pains we have secured the French and Holland lists, 
together with the English and American, and have culled out those 
that do the best both east and west. Tastes differ, and some will 



Peony manual 35 

think their favorites are overlooked, but we cannot give the two 
thousand named sorts. We can only name those which seem the 
best. 

Achille. Calot 1855. Delicate flesh, fading to white; early 
and fragrant. This has been sent out innocentl}' by many Arms as 
Marie Lemoine. A fine variety. 

Agida. Holland list. Rosy violet; earh\ 

Anna Swanson. Terr}-. Rosy crimson; robust. 

Alba Mutabilis. Guerin, 1850. Flesh and white. 

Alba Sulphurea. Calot, i860. White guard petals; center 
sulphur 3xllow; early; good bloomer. 

Agnes Mary Kelway. Kelway. Light rose guard petals; yellow 
petaloids, with tuft in center. A nice, delicate little flower; not 
very vigorous. 

Alexander Dumas. Guerin, 1862. Brilliant pink, ver}' livel}^ 
interspersed with chamois, white and salmon; medium. A fine, ro- 
bust plant; good stem. Scores the five points of excellence. Splen- 
did east and west. 

Alice Crousse. Calot, 1872. Very prett_v, anemone shape; 
bright pink; center salmon, pink and white. Extra fine. 

Amazone. Lemoine, 1899. This belongs to the coterie of new 
French peonies of exquisite grace and beaut}'. Creamy white, 3'el- 
lowish center; guard petals striated with carmine. Entirel}' dis- 
tinct from the Amazon. 

Ambroise Verchaffelt. Parmentier, 1850. Deep lilac crimson. 

Ambroise Verchaffelt. Calot, 1868. Described by Ward: 
Deep purplish crimson; large, cup-shaped bloom; late. Fine for 
landscape work. Good for cut flowers. Not a success in the west. 

Andre Laures. Crousse, i88r. Full flowers, violet red; .stout 
stems; ve'ry late. This is almost identical with Fragrans, Fragrant 
Rose and Late Rose, as grown by most dealers. This class is the 
most numerous and the cheapest of the whole family. 

Asa Gray. Crousse, 1886. Large, full bloom, imbricated, ro- 
siform. perfect shape; guard petals salmon flesh, inner petals pink, 
sprinkled with carmine lilac. Superb. 

Auguste Lemonier. Calot, 1865. Large, deep, dark red; vel- 
vety finish. 

Avalanche. Crousse, 1886. Convex, imbricated bloom; fine, 
creamy center, with stripes of carmine of rare delicacy and beaut}'. 

Baronne James de Rothschild. Guerin, 1850. Bright, silvery 
pink, center sorhetimes purplish pink. 

Baroness Schroeder. Origin unknown. Sent out by Kelway. 
Taken all around, this is one of the finest in existence. You may 
pick three flowers and one of them will have a delicate and linger- 
ing reflex of gold in the center. The next may have a creamy cen- 
ter, and the next a pinkish glow. The whole flower delicate, baby 
pink, fading to purest white. It is well formed and ethereally beau- 
tiful. The first sent out by Kelway were genuine, and there are 
quite a number in America. When the demand grew Kelway ap- 
pears to have sent out three different sorts under that name, and 



36 €. $. garrison's 

some French dealers have* also sent some spurious ones. This 
scores all the points of excellence. It is a prolific bloomer, de- 
liciously fragrant, and a remarkably rapid multiplier. We have cut 
four fine roots from one in a single year. It sells readily at $5.(X) a 
root, and is a fine investment at that. 

Bell Hough. Terry, 1900. Large, light purplish crimson; very 
robust plant and fine fiower. Late. 

Bertha. Terry, 1898. Bright crimson, large, full double; late. 
Ver}^ satisfactory. 

Beauty Francaise. Guerin, 1850. Delicate liesh pink, spotted 
with purplish white and carmine. 

Belle Chatelaine. Guerin, i86r. Large bloom, soft pink with 
sulphur reflex; center carmine. 

Bicolor. Lemon, 1835. Clear flesh color, yellow center, pur- 
ple anthers. 

Bicolor. Guerin, 1840. Clear flesh color, yellow center, sta- 
mens bordered purple, white tuft. Vigorous plant; fine flower. 
Fine in the west. Very satisfactory. 

Boule de Neige. Calot, 1867. White, tinged yellow; center 
bordered with carmine. 

Bossuet. Miellez, 1858. Large blooms; brilliant, lively violet. 

Cameron. Crousse, 1879. Very large, imbricated blooms; 
deep purple red with velvety tints. 

Candidessima. Calot, 1856. Creamy white and clear sulphur 
yellow. 

Carnea Elegans. Guerin, 1850. Bright, clear, flesh color; 
perfect shape, glossy reflex. A superb flowe- every other year. 

Carnea Flora Plena. Guerin, 1850. Delicate flesh, carmine 
center. 

Carnation. Terry, 1890. Solid, light crimson; broad outer 
petals, inside fringed. Late. Very satisfactor}-. 

Charles Verdier. Unknown. Large, lilac carmine flower; slate 
color reflex. Vigorous plant. 

Chrysanthemefolia. Guerin, 1852. Ivory white, centeryellow 
and white, with lemon yellow background. 

Charlemagne. Crousse, 1880. Large, compact, creamy white; 
center slightly lilac, fading to white. The flower is cup-shaped, 
liable to be filled with water when it rains, which rots the bloom. 
Should be covered with muslin while blooming. A splendid, solid 
flower when perfect, but without extra care it is seldom satisfactory. 
It is also late and liable to sun scald. 

Comte de Diesbach. Calot, 1873. Purplish blooms, early' and 
fine. 

Comtesse de Montalivet. Guerin, 1861. Light flesh, changing 
to pure white, with blood drops in the center; large, fine flower; 
extremely beautiful. Very satisfactory. 

Comte de Nanteuil. Calot, 1858. Large, full flower; pink 
salmon tint. 

Comte de Osmont. Calot, 1856. Fine» large, white, with sul- 
phur center. Very fine. 



Peony manual 37 

Constant Devred. Calot, 1868. Bright, glossy purple, with 
chatoyant, variable reflex. 

Coronation. Kelway, 1900. Large; light pink at the edges, 
rest creamy flesh of delicate shade. Fairl}^ successful in the west. 
Rather shy bloomer. 

Couronne de Or. Calot, 1873. A well packed, solid flower; 
white, with yellow reflection; center petals touched with carmine. 
Very fine. Scores the five points. 

Crimson Queen. Terry, 1890. Solid, clear, light crimson; 
finely fringed. Strong plant and choice flower. Very satisfactory. 

Cynthia. Terry, 1898. Charming, light rose, fading to white, 
reminding one of Agnes Mary Kelway, which it surpasses in beauty 
and vigor, as grown in Nebraska. A flower with a future. 

De Candolle. Crousse, 1880. Bright currant amaranth; ad- 
mirable variety. 

De Candolle. Verdier, i860. Deep lilac. 

Delachei. Delache, 1856. Rather late; deep purple crimson, 
one of the finest of dark ones. 

Defiance. Terry, 1890. Immense; semi-double; bright crim- 
son; tall and fine; golden stamens. 

Delicatissima. Holland list. By some considered identical 
with Floral Treasure. This is a mistake. Delicatissima has been 
grown many years. Floral Treasure is of recent introduction by 
Rosenfield. He never had a Delicatissima on his place, never heard 
of that variety till years after the introduction of Floral Treasure. 
They may bear some resemblance, but they are not identical. Plant 
them side by side and note the difference. Delicatissima is de- 
scribed as soft rose. 

Dorchester. Richardson, 1870. Light, clear pink; creamy 
center; sweet-scented; perfectly double. This was sent to Eng- 
land, where it sells at a high price. 

Due de Wellington. Calot, 1859. Described by Ward: Very 
large, well-formed, sulphur white bloom; habit ideal; stems very 
firm and long; strong grower; very fragrant. The genuine are 
scarce. Several varieties are sold under this name. 

Due Decazes. Holland list. Carmine rose, sulphur center. 

Duchesse de Nemours. Calot, 1856. Fine, cup-shape bloom, 
sulphur white with greenish reflex; long, firm stems; stronggrower, 
and very fragrant. In great demand. 

Duchesse de Nemours. Guerin, 1840. Bright, clear, viola- 
ceous pink, with lilac tints in the center. Very large bloom. Very 
fragrant. One of the earliest to flower. Fine keeper and shipper. 
Usually on hand for Decoration Day. It is generally claimed that 
this and L'Esperence, of Paillet, are identical. 

Duchesse d' Orleans. Guerin, 1846. Very pretty, deep pink, 
with violaceous tints on center petals interspersed with salmon. 

Duke of Devonshire Kelway. Large, deep red; one of the 
finest. Very brilliant and striking. 

Edouard Andre. Mechin, 1874. Large, globular bloom, deep 
crimson red; metallic reflex, yellow stamens. Very fine. 



38 C. $. I)am$on'$ 

Ediilis Superba. Lemon, 1824. Fine, shell pink. Noted for 
ready cleavage of the roots. A good multiplier. 

Emil Lemoine. Calot, 1866. Symmetrical, purplish red flow- 
er, with reflex. 

Emilie. Verdier, 1861. Soft lilac center, intermixed with nar- 
row white petals. 

Emperor Nicholas. Crousse, 1897. Enormous, broad-petaled 
flower, with tufted center; brilliant chatoyant or changeable ama- 
ranth, with deep purple reflex. Very brilliant. 

Emperor of Russia. Kelway, 1890. Large, deep purple crim- 
son. 

Etta. Terry, 1895. Very large, late, fragrant; light flesh, 
fading to white. One of the best late ones. Plant robust; good, 
strong stem; very profuse bloomer. 

Etendard du Grand Homme. Miellez, 1855. Superb, violet 
amaranth. 

Euphemia. Terry, 1890. Very strong grower; large, flesh- 
colored flower with sprinkling of crimson. 

Excelsior. Terry. Dark crimson, full double, early bloomer. 
Superior flower. 

Fairy Queen. Terry. Broad outside petals, inside fringed; 
bright purplish crimson. Early bloomer. 

Faubert. Parmentier, 1850. Deep purplish red. 

Faust. Miellez, 1855. Tender, lilaceous flesh color; clear, 
chamois center. Extra flne. 

Felix Crousse. Crousse, 1881. Large, anemone, ball-shaped 
bloom; brilliant red; ruby, flame-colored center. Variet}^ of special 
merit. 

Festiva. Donkelaer, 1838. An old sort. Fine, white center 
spotted with red. 

Festiva Maxima. Miellez, 1851. In some respects this is yet 
a peerless flower — queen of the whites. Though introduced 56 
years ago it is almost impossible to supply the demand. Someone 
remarked at the great Boston show of 1906, that if this flower was 
of a recent introduction it would be readily sold at $5 a root. It 
stood well to the front with all the new and beautiful candidates for 
popular favor. It is an immense white flower with drops of carmine 
sprinkled in the center. It is an earl}^ bloomer and a good keeper, 
dying gracefully. 

Floral Treasure. Rosenfield. First bloomed in 1890; put on 
the market in 1900. Flower fine, large pink; very fragrant. Took 
the prize as best pink at the Chicago show, 1905. It has steadily 
advanced to the front as one of the best. It is very hardy, bloom- 
ing profusely after being frozen solid 48 hours, when two feet tall. 
It is a success both east and west, and is well fitted by its hardiness 
for Manitoba and the great northwest. Some claim it is identical 
with Delicatissima. This is absolutel_v imi)Ossible. See descrip- 
tion of that variety. Plant them side by side, watch them closely 
and note the difference. Among 2,000 kinds there may be a 
similaritv, but there will be some variation. 



Peony manual 39 

Flambeau. Crousse, 1897. Very floriferous variety, with large, 
tufted bloom; very broad, cherry petals, with silvery white tips of 
delicate shading. 

Formosa Alba. Lemon, 1830. An old variety, yet somewhat 
a favorite. White and sulphur flower. 

Francoise Ortegat. Parmentier, 1850. In some catalogues 
Francoise Ortegal. An old favorite; purplish crimson, with golden 
center. Good east and west. 

Fragrans. This does not appear in the French or Holland lists. 
Described by Kelway as light purple; by Peterson as light rose and 
one of the first to bloom. By others it is called late rose and red. 
The name seems to be applied to five or six different sorts. Peter- 
son's description is probably correct. It is easy to apply this name 
to an}' fragrant sort. 

Fulgida. Parmentier, 1850. Violaceous purple. Rather early. 

General Bertrand. Guerin, 1846. An old variety, yet popular. 
Violaceous pink, with salmon center. 

General Cavaignac. Calot, 1858. Bright, lilac pink; shaded 
deeper pink. 

General Grant. Terry, 1890. Splendid, ^ deep red; large 
flower; unfortunately with too weak a stem to hold up the great 
burden. 

Gloire de Chenonceaux. Mechin, 1880. Large, currant red 
blooms; border of petals silvery white. A late variety. 

Gloire de Charles Gombaiilt. Introduced by A. Dessert, 1896. 
Large, globular flowers, extra full; deep, fleshy pink collar; center 
petals narrower; salmoned, clear, fleshy color, shaded apricot, with 
tuft of broad petals, pink, striped red, multicolor with vivid fresh- 
ness. There is but little use in naming A. Dessert's newest intro- 
ductions.. There is such a demand for them but few can obtain 
them. 

Gloire de Douai. Calot, i860. Purplish, scarlet crimson, with 
dark reflex. 

Glory of Somerset. Kelway, 1900. Soft, large pink. Shy 
bloomer in the Vv^est. 

Grandiflora Carnea Plena. Lemon, 1824. An old and very 
fine variety; blooms are variegated; line keepers. Like Seven Sis- 
ter roses, they change color, and in the row there will appear to be 
several kinds. Clear, flesh pink, shaded lilac; free bloomer. Fine 
as cut flower, excellent for landscape work. 

Golden Harvest. Rosenfield. First bloomed in 1890. Put 
on the market in 1900. It lacks only a long, strong stem of being 
one of the very finest. Outer petals pink, inner golden; raised cen- 
ter, and in the midst when fully developed, a dainty Festiva Maxi- 
ma in miniature, carmine dots and all. It is one of the very hard- 
iest and blooms on the least provocation. Favorable reports come 
from Minnesota, the Dakotas and even Manitoba. Everywhere it 
is a favorite. When almost ready to bloom, a terrible frost nipped 
most kinds in the bud and killed some tender sorts. This covered 
itself with such a gorgeous mantle of bloom you could hardly see 



40 C. $. l)arrison*$ 

the ground. It is very floriferous. Sure, annual bloomer. Multi- 
plies rapidl}' and stands far ahead of most of the imported ones. 
Some claim this is Jennie d' Arc. They are entirely distinct, though 
bearing faint resemblance. 

Golden Wedding. Mrs. Pleas, 19CXD. This is the only purely 
j-ellow peony we know of. It is not a large flower,; semi-double, 
and is not a long keeper, but it is solid yellow. 

Walter Morgan, by the same propagator, comes next. It is 
very nearly pure yellow. These, perhaps, have not so much merit 
in themselves, though they are fine flowers; but we have great 
hopes of their progeny. We have raised quite a number of seed- 
lings from them, and hope for the best of results, as all wish to see 
a grand, full double, yellow peon3^ These are rare and high, prob- 
ably not over fifty in existence. 

Grandiflora Nivea Plena. Lemon, 1824, Pure white, some- 
times with stripes of carmine on center petals. A fine old sort. 

Grandiflora. Richardson. Ver}^ late; immense flesh, fading 
to White. Grand. 

Grandiflora Rubra. This has no place, yet the name is often 
used. It does not appear in English, French or Holland cata- 
logues. It is absolutely identical with Marechal Vaillant, as com- 
pared in several places, and should always go by that name. Some 
of the importations probabl}^ lost their names and they were given 
this by some American grower. 

Grandiflora Rosea. Guerin. 1850. Even, clear pink. Much 
like Zoe Calot, only larger. Very fine; floriferous, early bloomer. 

Grover Cleveland. Tecumseh. Terry. Very solid, dark red; 
rather late; splendid keeper. Called by some growers best of all 
the deep reds. Somewhat variable different years. 

Henri Murger. Crousse, 1895. Large, globular, imbricated 
flowers, with broad petals; shape and color of Paul Neyron Rose, 
deeper center. Very fine variety. Late. 

Henri Demay. Calot, 1866, Violaceous purple, with silvery 
reflex. Superb flower, hardy and floriferous. Fine both east and 
west. 

Humei. Anderson. Enormous, varnished pink, cinnamon 
scented. One of the grandest when at its best, somewhat varia- 
ble different years. Very late. 

Humei Carnea. Guerin, 1856. Clear pink. 

Irma. Calot, 1859. Very soft, fleshy pink. Very satisfactory 
in the west. 

James Blanc. Crousse, 1883. Mid-season. Medium bloom. 
Bright china pink; dwarf habit, according to Ward. Fine for land- 
scape work. 

John Richardson. Richardson. Blush rose; extra fine. 

Jennie d' Arc. Calot, 1858. Soft pink, sulphur white and 
rose; raised center dashed with carmine. Something like Golden 
Harvest, but with ranker foliage and not as floriferous. 

Jules Calot. Calot, 1861. Carmined pink, shaded white. 



Peony manual 41 

Jules Lebon. Calot, 1866. Late. Bright, deep pink, with 
bright reflex. 

Jupiter. Calot, 1867. Deep purple. 

Jupiter. Terry, 1890. Large, full double; light rose. Early 
bloomer. 

Labolas. Kelway. Purple rose; short petals, tipped yellow. 

Lady Alexandra Duff. Kelway's myth. We give place to one 
of our foremost eastern growers: 

"What I Know About Peony Lady Alexandra Duff. — In 
the year 1901 I sent to Kelway & Son for hve plants. They flow- 
ered only imperfectly the following year, but I was afraid on ac- 
count of these imperfect flowers that they were wrong. I immedi- 
ately wrote them to send me five more plants in my shipment of 
that year. The next year, when the first five were two j^ears old, 
the}^ produced flowers of Festiva Maxima. The second lot flowered 
well in 1904, and I showed them at the exhibition of the Massachu- 
setts Horticultural Society in June, and they awarded me a first- 
class certificate for them. At the rose show of this same society, 
which followed the peony show in one week, Messrs. T. C. Thur- 
low & Son showed a peony under that name, which they had im- 
ported from Kelway & Son, which I had on my grounds under two 
names — one imported from Kelway & Son in the year 190 1 as Prin- 
cess of Wales, and another one as James Kelway, later. I also 
have had the same peony from another grower in America as the 
James Kelway. At the last peony show William Whitman's gar- 
dener, of Brookline, Mass., showed a Duchesse de Nemours (Calot) 
under the name of Lady Alexandra Duff, imported direct from Kel- 
way & Son. To sum it up, we have first Festiva Maxima; second, 
Grandiflora Nivea, an old variety of 1825 — for this is the second va- 
riety which I received and which was awarded the first-class certifi- 
cate by the Masachusetts Horticultural Society in 1904; third, we 
have the one sent Thurlow & Son, which I already had as Princess 
of Wales and James Kelway; fourth, we have the old variety of 
Duchesse De Nemours (Calot) which was sent to Mr. Whitman. 
Here are three old varieties re-named and sent out as Lady A. Duff, 
and two varieties of his own growing. Princess of Wales and James 
Kelway, also as Lady A. Duff. All this time Kelway & Son are say- 
ing the stock is nearly exhausted, but for our money they are ship- 
ping this stuff. I am led to the conclusion that there is no such 
peony as Lady Alexandra Duff, or Lady A. McDuff, as it was first 
called. It has been, probably, a re-naming of an old French vari- 
ety from the very beginning, and when one variety runs short select 
another and so continue the fraud. E. J. Shaylor, 

Wellesley Hills, Mass. Peony Specialist." 

On the supposition that this was the finest peony on earth, we 
sent in our money, and on comparing notes at the Boston show, we 
found that seven different varieties had been sent out under that 
name. In my own case I got an inferior, little, lO-cent, single one. 
Mr. Shaylor had booked several orders at $ro per root, my order 



42 £. $. l)arri$c»n's 

with the rest, when he found, to his satisfaction, he had no such 
peony. 

Lady Bramwell. Unknown. Beautiful, early, glossy pink. 
Very fragrant and tine. 

Lady Beresford. I once ordered two of Kelway, and received 
one cheap pink and one very inferior single. I have since seen the 
genuine. It is marked much like La Tulipe, but is not quite equal 
to it. Fine flesh, streaked with carmine. Not ver}- robust, and 
seems liable to disease. 

La Coquette. Guerin, 1861. Bright rose; fleshy pink center 
marked with carmine. A line, robust plant, roots having a fine 
cleavage. 

L' Avenir. Calot, 1868. Pink, gold and carmine. Fine. 

La Fiancee. Dessert, 1902. Synonym Albiflora. Broad, sin- 
gle flowers; exceedingly floriferous; wide petals of silky and almost 
transparent whiteness. 

La Fiancee. Lemoine, 1898. Large blooms, imbricated^ 
creamy white; yellowish center. 

La France. Lemoine, 1901. Enormous blooms; very full; 
soft, apple blossom pink, with mauve reflex. 

Lamartine. Calot. i860. This is probably Giganthea. Very 
large, pink flower. Better east than in the west. 

La Reine. Terry. Delicate rose, changing to white; straw- 
colored center, sometimes tipped with crimson. 

La Sublime. Parmentier, 1850. This has been extensively 
sold under the name of La Sublisse.^ It is a very fine, floriferous 
crimson. In good demand. 

La Tulipe. Calot, 1873. This is one of the finest. First, a 
ball interlaced with green, red and light; finally it opens, a globe of 
softest blush, v/ith streaks of carmine. A glorious flower. It seems 
to sit in a chalice of veined marble, emitting a delightful fragrance. 
Gradually it fades to purest white, looking something like Festiva 
Maxima, and like that, holds the freshness of its beauty till the pet- 
als fall. A splendid keeper. 

L' Esperence. There is much discussion regarding this variety. 
One, perhaps the proper one, was sent out by Calot, 1865. This is 
called white, washed with soft pink. The one which has been raised 
under that name, sent out by Paillet and raised in large quantities 
by western growers, is a clear, beautiful, fragrant pink. The earli- 
est of all the Chinensis family; in its full glory in most of the north- 
ern states for Decoration Day. Ward thinks it is Duchesse de 
Nemours (Guerin), bat it does not at all correspond with the de- 
scription, "clear violet, lilac center." I think we will have to let it 
go as it is. One of the finest and within the reach of all. Oneofthe 
most profitable and satisfactory for cut flowers, on account of its 
earliness and rare beauty as well as sure blooming propensities. It 
also seems very hardy in the far north. A favorite everywhere. 

Livingstone. Crousse, 1879. Very full bloom, imbricated; 
pretty, soft pink, washed white. Good bloomer; extra fine. One 
of Peterson's favorites and with good reason. 



Peony manual 43 

Louis Van Houtte. There are three bearing this name; one 
by Delache, 1854, even, bright, violaceous red; one by Parmentier, 
1850, soft pink, deeper center. The one generally grown is prob- 
abh' from Calot, 1867. Rich color, glaring purplish pink. Very 
satisfactory. 

La Vestale. Calot, 1870. Pure white with yellow streaks in 
the center. 

L' Elegante. Guerin, 1857. Bright rose. 

L' Emperor. Foulard, 1858. Crimson. 

Lilaceana Superba. Buyck, 1842. Even lilac color. 

Lutea Plenissima. Buyck, 1842. Even, sulphur yellow, chang- 
ing to clear yellow. We have never seen this. 

Marie. Calot, 1868. White, with chamois tints. 

Marie Crousse. Crousse, 1892. Enormous, globular flower; 
soft flesh color, with salmon reflex in the center, with shade of ex- 
quisite freshness. 

Madona. Calot, 1858. Flesh colored, with shading of pink and 
sulphur, ultimately white. 

• Marcelle Dessert. Dessert, 1899. Large bloom of symmetrical 
form, rounded petals: fine, glossy, creamy white, ver}' lightl}' spot- 
ted lilac; with the delicate fragrance of the tea rose. A flower of 
remarkable beauty and delicac}'. It is trying to read the descrip- 
tions of these new creations and then find there are not enough for 
the demand and we cannot secure them at an}' price. 

Marechal \'aillant. Calot, 1867. Immense, purple violaceous 
red; late and grand. This has been sold for j-ears under the name 
of Grandiflora Rubra, which name should be discarded. 

Marguerite Gerard. Crousse, 1892. Very large bloom with 
broad petals, flat shape; delicate pink, changing to soft flesh}' white; 
creamy center; very showy. Fine east and west. 

Marie Lemoine. Calot, 1869. Very large bloom, sulphur white, 
shaded pink; strong stems; very late. This is a very popular vari- 
ety and in great demand, yet it has its defects. The flower, like 
Charlemagne, is cup-shaped, which catches the rain, and is liable 
to rot; and in the west it is liable to sun-scald, being so late. Should 
be protected from heat and rain. Three kinds have been sent out 
under this name. The early, ivory white, really the Achille; very 
early. The next, sent out by Paillet, medium, a large, broad-faced, 
pinkish white, changing to pure white. This late one of Calot is 
probably the genuine one, as no.other sort appears on the Dessert 
or Holland list. 

Marie Stewart. Calot, 1856. Bright, fleshy rose and sulphur 
white. 

Mme. Breon. Guerin, 1856. An old and popular variety. 
Flesh color, with white center, with a yellowish tinge. 

Mme. Boulanger. Crousse, 1886. Very full, large bloom, 
shape of centifolia rose, with the same fragrance; pretty, soft, 
glossy pink, shaded lilac; silvery flesh border. Very fine. 

Mme Calot. Miellez, 1856. Pinkish white, flesh-colored 
shading. 



44 C. $. l)arrl$on'$ 

Mme. Camille Bancel. Crousse, 1897. Large, globular flow- 
ers, lilac pink, fine, fresh and glossy, with bright reflex, shaded 
salmon. 

Mme. Chaumy. Calot, 1864. Globular; soft pink, much like 
Lady Bramwell, only larger and later. This is one of great beauty; 
a good keeper, but some seasons in the west it needs shading from 
the hot sun. 

Mme. Geissler. Crousse, 1880. Gigantic bloom, imbricated, 
glossy, silvery pink; base of petals of a light Bengal rose color. 
Seems to do well everywhere. 

Mme. Ducel. Mechin, 1880. Ward says this is the kind we 
have been raising in the west, under the name of Model d' Perfec- 
tion. Mid-season, perfectly formed, bomb-shaped bloom, solid cen- 
ter, with a sort of frill of outside petals; color, bright, silvery pink, 
with salmon and silvery reflex. Splendid for cut flowers. Rather 
dwarfish in habit. 

Mme. Barillet Deschamps. Calot, 1868. Very tender pink, 
bordered white, shaded with lively silver tints. All right in the 
west. 

Mme. Emile Galle. Crousse, 1881. Large, cup-shaped, im- 
bricated flower; soft, lilac white; center yellowish, changing to 
creamy shade, bordered lilac. 

Mme. Emile Lemoine. Lemoine, 1899. Very full bloom, im- 
bricated, tufted; very tender, pinkish white. This flower, exhibited 
by J. E. Shaylor at the Boston show of 1906, won the admiration 
of all for its resplendent beauty. This is yet rare and costly. Very 
healthy and robust on Mr. Shaylor's grounds. It was very fortu- 
nate to escape the Lemoine grounds without that disease, spoken 
spoken of elsewhere. This is high priced, deservedl}^ so. 

Madame Lebon. Calot, 1888. Bright cherry pink, with sil- 
very reflex. 

Mme. d' Verneville. Crousse, 1885. Very full bloom, sulphur 
white, broad guard petals. Very beautiful, belonging to the front 
rank. Considered by Terry one of the very best. 

Mme. Schmidt. Calot, 1873. Soft pink, symmetrical form. 
Very late. 

Milton Hill. Richardson, 1891. One of the most exquisitely 
beautiful peonies in Europe or America. Flowers large, ethereal, 
clear, soft pink; central petals set like a rose, perfectly double. 
One looking at this resplendent bloom realizes we need not go to 
Europe for the best. Unfortunately it is not a prolific multiplier. 

Morning Star. Terry. A star in miniature. Early bloomer, 
color white and straw, with delicate rays radiating from the center. 

Modeste Guerin. Guerin, 1845. Though an old variety it is 
3^et difficult to supply the demand. Bright carmine, with purple 
center; fragrant and fine. Medium. 

Mt. Blanc. Lemoine, 1899. Very full blooms, white, with 
creamy center. Very nearly, if not quite, identical with Solfatare, 
Calot, 1 86 1. Probabl}' a coincidence, as the}' were born forty years 
apart. 



Peony manual 45 

Mons. Barrall. Calot, 1866. Symmetrical, soft pink, one of 
the first class. 

Modele de Perfection. Crousse, 1875. Enormous cup-shaped 
bloom, very fresh pink; marbled, bright rose, with silvery border, 
center intermingled with salmon; extra fine. As noted before, the 
bomb-shaped pink sold under this name was Mme. Ducel ( Mechin, 
1880). 

Monsieur Dupont. Calot, 1872. Sulphur white, bordered 
with lively carmine at the center. Robust and lioriferous. 

Mons. Jules Elie. Crousse 1888. Immense, globular, full 
flower, imbricated rosiform; broad petals of finest, glossy, fresh 
pink, deeper tint at base of the petals, silvery reflex enveloping the 
whole bloom. Really a perfection. Unfortunately some importa- 
tions of this glorious flower have the fungoid disease. 

Mons. Paillet. Guerin, 1S57. Light rose, fading white. 

Mons. Rousalon. Guerin, 1856. Lilac pink, deep salmoned, 
chamoised center, lilac pink tuft, bordered with carmine. 

Mutabilis. Guerin, 1840. Bright, violaceous pink, intermingled 
with salmon shade. 

Nee Plus Ultra. Guerin, 1844. Fine, bright rose. Used to be 
Ne Plus Ultra. We know not wh}- changed. 

Noblessima. Miellez, 1858. Very fine, deep pink rose; a 
choice variety. Very satisfactory west. 

Nigra. Terry, 1900. Very dark crimson, full double, late 
bloomer. 

Neptune. Terry. Purplish rose with white stripes. Early 
bloomer. 

Odorata. Lemon, 1830. Yellowish white, with purplish stig- 
mas. Shy bloomer. 

Paganini. Guerin, 1845. An old variety not much dissemi- 
nated. Late mid-season. Immense blooms on long stems; guards 
livel}' rose; center pinkish white and yellow. Strong grower. Very 
striking tricolored variety. 

Pottsii. Unknown. An early, popular, old sort, somewhat 
variable; some years semi-double and again full double. Splendid, 
deep purple blooms. 

Portia. Kelway. Large, full-orbed flower, yellowish, fading 
to pure white. This is the most sensitive to heat and drought of 
any on our list. Tops and roots wilt badly in a hot, dry season. 

Plutarch. Unknown. Varnished crimson. Extra. 

Princess Beatrice. Kelway. Pink guard petals, yellow and 
pink short petals, raised in the center. 

Princess Ellen. Terry. Flesh color, fading to white; a beau- 
tiful, robust flower, reminding one of M. Paillet. Very desirable. 

Prince of Wales. Terry. Purple, edged white, fading lighter. 
In a collection of 100, this stood well at the front. Very vigorous. 

Pulcherrima. Guerin, 1842. Violaceous pink; center pink 
and salmon. 

Pomponia. Unknown. Very large, robust plant, with fine, 
large, pinkish white bloom. 



46 €. $. l)arrl$oii*$ 

Prince Imperial. Calot, 1859. Late mid-season. Very strong 
stem, surmounted by brilliant, purplish scarlet bloom. Fine for 
cut liowers and very effective in outside ornamentation. Should be 
in every collection. 

Queen Victoria. English Horticultural Society, 1830. This is 
a very old sort; a fine white; an excellent keeper. Synonym 
"Whittleyi. 

Queen Victoria. Kelway. Seems to differ somewhat from the 
above. 

Queen Victoria. Raised by Terry forty years; received from 
Prince. Is deep pink, straw center; very large flower. We have 
the three sorts to test and compare. 

Reevesii. Unknown. Soft, shady pink. Very fine. 

Reine Victoria. Guerin, 1845. Clear liesh color; center pen- 
ciled yellow. 

Richardson's Perfection. Richardson, 1869. Flowers medium 
size, light blush pink, lighter in the center. It is rather late, and 
in the west needs shading from the burning sun. 

Richardson's Rubra Superba. Richardson, 1871. This, like 
his Grandiflora, brings up the rear of the flowering season. This 
is considered one of the best of all the crimsons. In cold storage it 
is kept a long time. At the Boston show in 1906 fifty blooms were 
brought from Ohio. They were a long time on the way and were 
somewhat wilted, but they revived and took the prize. When we 
can produce such flowers ourselves, we need not depend on Europe. 

Rubens. Delache, 1854. Deep, brilliant red. 

Rubra Triumphans. Guerin, 1840. Very early, bright pur- 
plish crimson. Often blooms single the first year. 

Samuel Henshaw. Richardson, 187 1. Named by Jackson. 
Outer petals clear rose pink, tinged with white; inner petals pink 
and white, intermingled; very large and of wonderful vigor. Stem 
nearly as large as a lady's finger, supporting the grand flower in 
storms and wind. 

Sada Evans. Terry. Fine, large flower, outer petals broad, 
light pink, inside fringed; straw-colored, the whole fading to pure 
white. 

Sarah Bernhardt. Dessert, 1895. Large blooms, guard petals 
of pretty pink; salmoned center. One of the first to bloom. Has 
a very fine bud and is much prized by florists. One of the fine, 
new, French sorts, yet rare and high priced. 

Shabona. Harrison, 1890. When at its best, nearly four feet 
tall, overlooking the whole field of 400 varieties. Makes a very im- 
posing appearance. Flowers, bright, deep red; good keepers. Re- 
quires three or four years to come to its best. 

Souvenir de L' E.xposition Universalle. Calot, 1867. Clear 
cherr\-, with reflex. Very rare coloring. 

Sunbeam. Harrison, 1899. Delicate, silvery, glistening white. 
Ethereally beautiful. Fine form. Rather late. 

Sulphurea. Lemon, 1830. White, shaded sulphur. 



Peony manual 47 

Triumph d' Nord. Miellez, 1850. Evenly colored violaceous 
pink. 

Triumph d' Paris. Guerin, 1850. White, yellowish center, 
spotted purple. 

Triumph de L' Exposition de Lille. Calot, 1865. Soft, fleshy 
pink, with white reflex. 

The Amazon. Pleas, 1900. Pinkish flower of immense size; 
very robust and floriferous; not first-class, yet on account of its pro- 
lific blooming, vigor and hardiness, it is well adapted to the tr\'ing 
climate of the west and northwest. 

The Nymph. Harrison, 1901. This has a pond lily fragrance. 
First it opens a single flower, with delicate white petals; in the 
center are incurved white petals sprinkled with carmine. In a few 
days these unfold, making a second story flower sitting in the lap 
of the first, surrounded b}' golden stamens. This is a very unique 
flower. It takes about a week to make its toilet. 

The Bride. Terry. Outer petals baby flesh, inside straw col- 
ored; fades to white. A charming flower. 

Tricolor Grandiflora. Buyck, 1843. Pink color, intermingled 
cream, salmon and pink. 

Venus. Terry. Pale flesh, changing to white; large, full 
double and late. 

Victor. Terry. Full double; crimson, variable in color in dif- 
ferent seasons. Early bloomer. Very fine. 

Victoria Tricolor. Van Houtte. Pink, sulphur and flesh; 
rather early, abundant bloomer. First year often single, growing 
larger and fuller as it grows older. 

Victoria Modesta. Guerin, 1842. Violaceous pink guard pet- 
als; center salmon color. Rather coarse, its chief charm being its 
fine fragrance. 

Victor Lemoine. Calot, 1866. Deep purplish carmine. 

Villede Nancy. Calot, 1872. Pronounced by a leading New 
England grower as by far the finest of its class. Globular, viola- 
ceous, brilliant purple. A splendor when in full bloom. 

Virgo Maria. Calot, 1859. Medium sized flower, ivory white. 

Zoe Calot. Miellez, 1855. Soft pink, even color. Something 
like genuine Grandiflora Rosea. 

Kepicw 

A careful study of all the lists shows that France is far ahead of 
all others in originating new kinds. Some date back farther than 
we had supposed. Formosa (Lemoine, 1824). Formosa Alba 
bears the date of 1830, while many of the old favorites date back to 
the 40's. We note an improvement in the varieties as we come 
down to the present, and regret that the limitations of propagation 
keep many of them out of our reach. The descriptions are not full 
enough; sometimes only two or three words are used. Gordoni is 
light pink, which would fit fifty sorts. In some cases we have add- 



48 C. $. I)arrlson'$ 

ed more elaborate descriptions, and we are sure we have thrown 
some Hght on many varieties. It will be a Herculean task to clas- 
sify and describe them all. 

Single Peonies 

These are beautiful in buds, when in masses. They are not so 
desirable as cut flowers. At night, and in cloudy and stormy 
weather, they fold their petals over the stamens with a sort of 
motherly tenderness. The}^ are much earlier than other sorts and 
are generally on time for Decoration Day. For this reason they 
seem to be growing in favor. In producing new varieties, quite a 
large proportion come single, and these are often thrown away. 
Yet there will be some of rare beauty, and in our own experience 
we find many single and semi-double, for which there is a growing: 
call, so much so that it is difficult to keep a supply. 

names of Some Single On<$ 

Adana. Pink and flesh, early and large. 

Arios. Bright pink, semi-double. 

Defiance. Terry. Bright crimson, tall and fine. 

Full Moon. Harrison. Very striking. Large, crimson; strong 
outer petals and a full moon of golden stamens. When at its best, 
it is a jolly looking flower. Perfect every other year. 

Wild Rose. Pleas. Fine, open-faced crimson flower, with 
beautiful golden cushion. 

May Davidson. Harrison. Is very large, pink, striped with 
silver. 

Pottsiana. Terry. Seedling of Pottsii'. Fine crimson. 

Mrs. Terry. Terry. Lilac crimson, fine flower, very florifer- 
ous. 

Saul. Rosenfield. Very tall stem, very large, pinkish flower. 
So named for its superior height. 

The Queen. Terry, 1880. Snow white; very large and fine, 
early and fragrant. 

Japanese Peonies 

These are rather disappointing. We keep about thirty kinds, 
but they are not satisfactory. Their names are yet a jumble of con- 
fusion. They bear no comparison with the Chinensis. Their chief 
merit is their readiness to cross with others, and this union gives us 
some of rare and unique beauty, as we saw in Mr. Hollis' display at 
the great Boston show, and also on the grounds of others. 




Peony South Weymouth. — Mollis 




( 



Mme Calot 



I 



J 



Peony manual 49 

NAMES OF SOME. 

Apollo. Deep pink, shading lighter toward the edges. 

Diana. Blush, with creamy white center. 

Exquisite. White, with yellow stamens. 

Fabiola. Delicate blush. 

Neptune. A line shell pink. 

Ophir. Dark carmine. 

Saturn. Rosy pink, with yellow stamens. 

Souvenir. Flesh pink; creamy white center. 

Titian. Soft, delicate pink. 

Vesta. Purplish red. 

Topaz. Deep rose, shading lighter at the margin. 

Undine. Bright pink, with darker shading. 

Officinalis 

These are the "pinys" of our grandmothers, rather coarse, and 
with a rank odor. 

Rubra. Early, deep crimson. 

Rosea. Purplish rose. 

Rosea Superba. The earliest, pure pink. 

Alba (mutabilis). White. This family are earlier than the 
Chinensis. 



Cenuifolia or Tern-Ccai^ed 

These are single and double, the earliest of all to bloom. Some- 
times out- the fifth of May in Nebraska. 

Cbe niouttin or Crcc Peony 

Does remarkabl}^ well in England and in our Atlantic States. It 
blooms grandly and grows to be quite a bush. I have grown them 
in Nebraska for more than fifteen years, and find them very shy 
bloomers. They will grow and increase all right, but I think the 
buds are sensitive to our trying climate. It is possible these will do 
well where the herbaceous ones are not satisfactory. I think, as 
you go south into the Gulf states, especially into the sandy soils, 
the Chinensis will not be satisfactory, and perhaps those regions 
will be just the place for the Moutan. 

They can be used successfully for forcing, and I think this would 
be feasible. The trouble with those grown out doors is supposed 
to be the severe spring frosts. This difficulty would be obviated by 
bringing them into the green house. In those sections where 3'ou 
can depend on them, the blossoms are of resplendent beaut}', some 
of the newer sorts almost as large as a dinner plate. 

They are usually propagated by putting a slip into the fleshy 
root of the herbaceous kinds. It will use this for a time and then 



50 €. $. garrison's 

discard it for its own. The stools can be readily separated, and if 
you wish to increase faster, graft the tops on their own roots much 
as the nurseryman does his young apple trees, using the lip or sphce 
graft. Care must be taken, however, to let them knit well before 
planting out. But if you have patience you can wait for the root 
division. 

VARIETIES. 

Abokin. Bright scarlet. 

Akashi-jishi. Blush-white, shading deeper center. 

Daikagura. Carmine, shading to rose at edges. 

Fuji-no-mone. Pure white. 

Kakubanryn. Creamy white. 

Iwato-kagami. Fine pink. 

Kamadafuji. Soft pink. 

Nishikishima. Bright, soft pink, blush margin. 

Ruriban. Dark purple. 

Shokikagura. Satiny-rose, shading to white on edges. 

Shiro-kagura. White, suffused with pink. 

Yoyo-no-nomare. Soft rose, the base of petals mottled. 

A gentleman in Nebraska has remarkable success with raising 
iiowers from these every year. He sets a barrel over the plant in 
the early winter, and tills it with leaves, and is in no hurry to re- 
move the protection in the spring. The flowers were a surprise to 
his neighbors and he was offered three dollars a root for all he had. 
Perhaps if we took time to care for the sensitive sorts, and this va- 
riety also, we would be well rewarded for our pains. But among 
perennials we naturally expect plants will be robust enough to take 
care of themselves. 



I 



CHAPTER XVI 



Cl)c Tlvc Feints cf excellence 

A first-class peony should be: First, symmetrical and beauti- 
ful in form; second, fragrant; third, a good keeper as a flower; 
fourth, a prolific and ready bloomer; fifth, the plant, to be profit- 
able, must be vigorous, and propagate readily. We have many 
that score well on all these points. 

mission of tbe Cops 



It is a wise provision of Nature that the tops should fall down 
and shelter the roots and buds in winter. The}' make a good cov- 
ering in the absence of other mulching. If they grow in the open 
the snow naturally drifts in, detained by the fallen tops, and so you 



Peony manual 51 

have? a snow bank for additional protection, and also spring irriga- 
tion when the snow thaws. Yet in a visit to one of the finest Oma- 
ha cemeteries I found they mowed off the tops, to have the surface 
uniform, and to prevent the snow drifts, and the plants were bloom- 
ing beautifully. This might do in our present cycle of wet seasons, 
but when years of censecutive drouth return, it would be better to 
leave the tops. 



Peonies ana Insects 

It is said truly that these plants have the fewest insect enemies 
and diseases of any of our flowers. Yet complaints sometimes come 
in regarding ants. These often cover the bud, and sometimes, it is 
said, injure the flower. What is the reason for this.'' I once forced 
some peonies, and had a chance to watch them closel}'. I found 
the buds exuded small drops of purest honey. Tasting it, I could 
not tell the difference between it and the genuine article. After 
that I noted that ants and bees and all sweet-loving insects were 
very bus}' in blooming time. Perhaps it is not generally known that 
a field of peonies is one of the finest of all bee pastures, and for 
weeks the air is filled with the hum and buzz of honey gatherers. 
This honey is what the ants are after. They are in evidence mostly 
before the buds open. Sometimes they invade the flower for the 
nectar hidden there. The bee is busy then mixing the pollen, so 
that we can have a larger variety. One remedy is to have more 
flowers, so the insects will not concentrate on the lonely few. Those 
who grow them in quantities are never troubled. Another remedy 
is to put an old saucer at the base of your plant, with syrup mixed 
with a solution of arsenic. But as this is hardly fair for the bees, 
you had better try the first remedy. 

Perhaps in time people will learn to plant in masses. Have a 
few choice ones, and then you can always get cheap. ones that will 
flower, too, for $6 to $io per hundred. Flowers need company. 
They are social things. 

^^ 

Tn Plan ing 

Avoid low, wet and undrained ground or any place on which water 
will settle. A gentleman in Minnesota secured a fine lot of Mme. 
d' Verneville, of which he was proud. Though the ground was 
high, there happened to be a depression where these were planted. 
Water settled on them from a thaw, ice formed over them and the}' 
were all killed. At Brandon, Manitoba, the river rose and covered 
the peony bed a few days, and it killed them. One mild winter in 
Nebraska a grower had some on low ground, and while the ground 
was not frozen, snow drifted on them, and in the spring they were 
dead. Use a little precaution, and you are all right. 



52 • C. $. l)arri$on'$ 

UIDat to Plant lUitl) Peonies 

After blooming, the plants have little more to do, except to at- 
tend to the root growth, and yet you want something on the ground. 
You can have j-our rows wide enough apart so as to plant other 
things between them. Between the two back rows delphiniums 
would answer, then lilies, then phlo.xes. 

Protection from the Sun 

France is rather a warm country for the peony, and it is nec- 
essary to protect some varieties. Cup-shaped flowers, like 
Charlemagne, of which there are quite a number, need some shelter 
from the heavy rains which rot the buds. Then such sorts as Per- 
fection, Marie Lemoine and Granditiora, would be much better if 
protected from the burning sun and hot south winds. It would be 
well to plant these sorts together and shield them en masse. 

Tmportina 

If you have a strong set of nerves and a disposition that nothing 
can ruffle you can try it. Order from the average Holland dealer, 
wait two years for the result, and then invoice your feelings. If you 
have nerves of steel and want to be gulled, place an order with Kel- 
way & Son, and see them hide behind the ocean and smile. If you 
want to be dead sure of the genuine, send to the best propagator in 
Europe and have almost every root crippled with that dread dis- 
ease so they will look like a poor hand terribly distorted by rheu- 
matism in every joint. We have quit. 

Co Elcndtben the Season of Bloomtnd 

Without any special effort we have cut flowers the 5th of May 
and the 5th of July the same year. Try forcing for early ones, then 
raising under cloth for the next, then your earliest in the open will 
come on, then the medium and the late. If you want them very 
late, take good, strong clumps, put them in cold storage and plant 
the first of July, and by using cold storage 3'ou can have them 
through August. 

If you have a row of only one kind you can stretch the time of 
blooming considerably. Begin at the end nearest the house and 
put a lot of hay on the first three clumps before the ground freezes. 
Now wait till the earth is frozen the hardest and put some coarse 
manure on the row, very light at first, then increase in depth until 
you reach the end of the row. There you pile it on two feet deep. 
Now see how it will work. In the spring take off the hay you put 
on before the ground was frozen. Take a long box, long enough to 
cover those first three clumps; knock off the bottom and put on 



Peony manual 53 

cloth; put it on those first ones and bank up, so the air will not get 
under. The next will have but little mulching. You can take all 
off of a few of the next. Leave it on all the rest, and you will have 
a long succession. Remember 3'ou are not to move the mulching 
on the row. At the further end it is two feet deep; that holds the 
frost and retards the growth. You will be astonished at the suc- 
cession of blooms. 

Peonies in tbe South 

While they do very well in the middle south, in Georgia and 
Tennessee, they do not seem to be so successful in the gulf states. 
We understand they do not do well in California, the land of flow- 
ers. They do better in the north. California and the south are 
flower lands. You do not find so many in the north. For this 
reason they may well be welcomed. 

A writer in Florists' Exchange asks if it is practical to grow 
peonies in the south, and P. J. Berckmans, of Georgia, gives his ex- 
perience for the central southern states: 

"We have found from past experience that peonies, to succeed 
well, should be planted in the south as early after the middle of 
October as practicable. Plants set out later than February seldom 
give as good results as those which are planted earlier. The best 
soil is one that is deep and loamy. It is best to prepare the soil of 
the bed by trenching, and mix in a liberal supply of decomposed cow 
manure. Some varieties give larger and more flowers when plant- 
ed on the northwest side of a building, wh,ere they have partial 
shade, although many varieties give excellent results in open sun. 
The main thing is to keep the plants abundanth' supplied with 
water during the blooming period. After a killing frost the bed 
should be top dressed with decomposed stable manure and, in 
planting, set the crowns from three to four inches below the sur- 
face and remove all roots that might be injured. All that is re- 
quired for after-cultivation is to keep the beds free from weeds and 
give them a fall dressing of manure. The varieties that have given 
the best results with us are as follows: Queen Emma, Pulcher- 
rima, Agida, Argus, Andre Lauries, Buckii, Duke of Wellington, 
Eclatante, Elegantissima, Festiva Maxima, Marie Lemoine, Miran- 
da, Psyche, Purpurea, Queen Victoria, Rubra Triumphans, Victor 
Moorish and the varieties of the officinalis class for early blooming. 

P. J. Berckmans." 

Heeping Uarieties Separate and Unmixed 

Where one has four or five hundred kinds this is a difficult mat- 
ter. Some use almost any kind of a stake, with name carefully 
written on a painted label, which is wired on the stake. We use 
pine stakes sawed from inch boards. These are one and a half 
inches wide and two feet long, painted zinc white, and that is much 
more durable than lead, which has a tendency to chalk off. The 



54 C. $. Rarrlson's 

name should be written very distinctly. Then take a light brush 
and spread a little boiled oil over it, for an ordinary marking can last 
only a year or so, when it becomes dim, or the weather wears it off 
entirely. The greatest care is needed. Sometimes an admiring 
friend comes along and pulls up a stake to read the name and 
sets it down wrong side to, and so gets things badly mixed. 
\V. A. Peterson, of Chicago, has a good system. He is discarding 
many common sorts and paying attention to the best varieties. 
Everything is carefully marked in the held, and then the whole 
planting is platted. Each variety is set down, and the exact dis- 
tance from one stake to another is noted, so if the stakes should be 
moved, maliciously or otherwise, there would be an exact record. 
In some localities there is a strange mixture, half devil and half 
man, which makes a vicious combination. Often a boy or man 
thus constituted will deem it a great joke to pull stakes and throw 
them away, or change the stakes. By careful platting such ma- 
liciousness is thwarted. Then in blooming time the plants should 
be carefully watched and the strays or rogues staked, so as to be re- 
moved in the fall. There is usually such a variety and diversity in 
form and foliage that one can detect any strays which might creep 
in from the leaves alone. For instance, Festiva Maxima has very 
large leaves and is of a robust habit, while Granditlora Carnea 
Plena is a dwarf, with finer foliage, and one can detect a stray of 
either kind in a moment. The best way is to keep a patch of 
ground entirely to one variet}'; carefully watch foliage and bloom 
and be sure of 3-our stock. 

Should there, by any possibility, be a mistake, the dealer of 
course feels in duty bound to rectify it as soon as possible. We 
once bought lOO Pottsii Alba of a leading eastern party. They 
proved to be of an altogether different sort, and not worth one- 
fourth as much as the kind ordered. It was a great disappoint- 
ment, for Pottsii Alba is among the best. We wrote to the dealer, 
telling him of the loss of two years' growth and the disappointment, 
at the same time telling him of the uncertainty and unreliability of 
most importations and that we knew he sold in good faith, but if he 
would send fifty of the kind ordered we would call it square. He 
wrote that he had instructed his agent in Europe to visit a firm he 
could rely upon, and if possible he would secure the genuine, which 
he did, sending on the fifty in due season. 

The fact is, there is such a call for these plants they cannot be 
supplied at home, so dealers send abroad. Now the rare kinds are 
very high, and so dealers and growers will often put the name of a 
high priced one on a poor sort and send it on. And as it takes two 
or three years to test them, endless confusion arises. The import- 
er, thinking them true to name, sells them, and finds, to his dismay, 
that they have been cheated all around. President Ward, in his 
address before the society at Boston, gives a most graphic account 
of the disappointments and vexations of the importer. 



J 



Peony manual 55 

CHAPTER XVII 



extract from Jiaarcss of President Ulard at tbc national Peony $bow, 

at Boston, 1906 

' 'The necessity of continuing everlastingly at the task of straight- 
ening out the nomenclature of the peony has been most emphatic- 
ally impressed upon me by my experience in purchasing peonies 
from both foreign and American growers during the last three years. 

'In my last annual address I referred to the variety purchased 
under the name of Henry Murger, wherein I received two absolutely 
distinct peonies under this name from the same firm at different pe- 
riods. This spring the attempt to determine whether the names at- 
tached to the various varieties growing in our peon}^ test plot were 
the true names, developed a state of affairs which has caused me 
not a little chagrin, and I find that I have the same peony in many 
instances under several names. 

"Some two 3'ears ago I purchased from one of the most reliable 
firms in Holland quite a quantity of a peony under the name of 
Mons. Charles Leveque, paying therefor an exceptionally large price, 
under the impression and representation that I was getting some- 
thing especially good. The plants are blooming for the first time 
this season and prove to be nothing less than the variety sold by 
French growers under the name of Mile. Leonie Calot, introduced 
by Calot in 1861. We have been purchasing this variety from the 
most responsible French and German growers, and while the peony 
is of a very beautiful color, it is weak in the stem and the blooms 
fall upon the ground, and it has little value as an effective sort in 
the field. The color is a beautiful shade of salmon pink, the flower 
is medium in size and has the merit of being a good keeper and may 
have some value as a cut flower variety; but if the firms who have 
introduced this peony under a new name, thus giving the impres- 
sion that it is a new variety, have done it knowingl}', they have 
perpetrated a fraud upon American peony buyers which will not 
soon be forgotten by those who have been unfortunate enough to 
purchase this variety at a much higher price than they could have 
secured it under its true name from the French and German growers. 

"Two distinct sorts came to us from reputable firms under the 
name of Delachii, one being a deep purplish amaranth, the other 
much darker in color and with a decided crimson cast. The habits 
of both varieties are quite different and one sort is much more valu- 
able than the other. I have not yet been able to determine which 
is the true sort, as either one would answer fairly well to the intro- 
ducer's description of Delachii, which is "deep purple." 

"From one of the most responsible American peony firms we 
got the variety Mme. Ducel, under the name of Model of Perfec- 
tion; others have the name of Mons. Jules Elie attached to their 
stock of Mme. Ducel. Under Modeste Guerin come two varieties 



56 €. $. garrison's 

somewhat similar in habit and color, but the true variet}' is much 
better in color and a more valuable peon}- than the false one. 

"Mme. Coste comes to us under the name of Souvenir de L' Ex- 
position Universelle. Under the same name we get two dark pink 
varieties which are far inferior to Souvenir de L' Exposition Univer- 
selle and which we have not as yet been able to identif}'. 

"Marie Stuart comes to us from one of the most prominent 
western peon}' firms, under the name of Baroness Schroeder. Un- 
der the name or Mme. de Verneville we get a mixture of Mme. de 
Vatry, Jeanne d'Arc and the true Verneville. Jeanne d'Arc comes 
to us under the name of Marguerite Gerard; Agnes Marie Kelwa}' 
came under the name of La Tulipe, and La Tulipe comes also under 
the name of Multicolor. 

"Two common dark pink peonies come to us under the name 
of Mme. Camille Bancel. Under La Tendresse we get a common 
flesh pink semi-double peony which shows the seed pods promi- 
nently in the center. The true La Tendresse is creamy white, ab- 
solutely double and shows no center or seed pods, and is a much 
dwarfer grower than the false variety. 

"Some three or four 3'ears since we purchased from a Holland 
firm quite a stock of a good, solid pink peony, under the name of 
Rose d'Amour. All of the stock we received from the firm the first 
year proved to be true to habit and color. The second order to the 
same firm for the same variety brought a mixed lot of pink peonies, 
all varying shades of dark and light pink and purple, and but eleven 
plants out of one hundred received proved to be the same kind sold 
us originally by this same firm as Rose d'Amour. An investigation 
of the variety, and comparing it with the true Rose d'Amour, which 
we purchased from a French firm and which answers to the origin- 
ator's description, disclosed the fact that none of the peonies shipped 
to us by the Holland firm in question was the true variet}'. 

"Many common sorts come to us under the names of well- 
known, valuable varieties. In some instances where a quantit}' of 
a valuable sort is purchased, one or two plants in the lot will prove 
true to name, the balance being frequently nothing but a lot of 
mixed varieties running through shades of color somewhat similar 
to the variety ordered, but of totally different habit and frequently 
a totally different period of blooming. 

"In many instances where a pink variety is ordered we receive 
various shades of dark and light pink, white, flesh colored and even 
the deep purples and amaranths. In somes instances where a deli- 
cate, flesh-colored pink peony was ordered, the variety received 
proved upon blooming to be a deep purple. 

"These experiences have been the result of my observations dur- 
ing the past five years while attempting to accumulate a stock of 
peonies true to name by purchasing them from Holland, French 
and German peony firms, as well as from American firms. Our 
plants are now three and four years old and are developing normal 
blooms showing the true characteristics, so that for the first time 



Peony manual 57 

we are able to identify the varieties in a practical way, provided the 
originator's description is sufficiently definite. 

"In Holland they have a peony association which is endeavor- 
ing to straighten peony nomenclature by holding annual exhibitions 
of peony blooms and thereby settling mooted questions of nomen- 
clature, and they have identified a number of varieties which they 
claim to be able to furnish true to originator's name and description. 
Nevertheless, in many instances when we buy of them the}' prove 
to be wrong when we get them in flower here." 



Jft^oiding Difficulties 

One cause of confusion is the lack of investigation before 
naming new varieties. It is somewhat annoying to be a man of 
prominence. For instance there are three Louis Van Houtiis, duly 
recorded with the names of the originators and date of introduction. 

Mr. Terry named Prince of Wales when Kelway had one before 
him. And then to make confusion worse confounded, a prominent 
eastern firm, having accumulated a lot of common pink with no 
name, they slapped Prince of Wales on some six cent plants. We 
have two Admiral Dewys, and would have had more were it not for 
vigorous protests. We have noted three Queen Victorias, with 
widely distinct characteristics, and when we sell them we must des- 
ignate the colors, so as to avoid confusion. 

In naming new sorts we must be exceedingl}' careful not to du- 
plicate. It is better to be sure that there is no other bearing the 
same name. For instance, we are getting quite a collection of deep 
reds or crimsons, and we are naming these from Indian chiefs, Sha- 
bona. Red Cloud, Red Jacket and others, taking an entirely new 
field. For other colors we are using the names of some of the 
mothers of the church, Paula, Fabiola, Marcella, St. Cecilia, etc. 
F. O. Brand gives what he deems the finest peony that' ever saw 
the light the name of his wife. Mr. Mollis uses the family name 
also. So with a little forethought we can find labels for our new 
creations not used before. 

This is an important matter, for there has been such an intense 
interest in originating new varieties, and so many hundreds are 
coming on, we must be extremely careful. To make the matter 
doubly sure it would be well to write to the secretary of the peony 
societ}', who is supposed to have a list of all varieties on the mar- 
ket. And don't forget to put in a dollar bill to pay for the trouble 
of looking the matter up. People too often ihink that a two cent 
stamp without paper or envelope entitles them to $5 worth of in- 
formation. We often get letters in a busy season, when time is 
worth $20 a day, asking for $25 worth of information, all to be hung 
on that two cent stamp. 



^^ 



58 



€. $. garrison's 



CHAPTER XVIII 



Ccgcnds of tbc Peony 

The name reaches back into the myths of history. It is said 
that in the days of Troy there lived a physician by the name of 
Paeon, who first used the roots on his patients, and these were the 
descendants of the Gods. So our favorite ministered to the ills of 
the Immortals. The name has clung ever since. It should be 
paeony yet. The writer hung onto the old form of spelling as long 
as he could, and didn't propose to change it till the old doctor 
changed his, but the peon}' society and the lexicons were against 
him, and so the "a" fell out in this edition. 

Along in mediaeval times the peony was known as the "gallant 
herb of the sun." The seeds were taken at bedtime to prevent 
nightmare. Steeped in liquor and drank before and just after the 
new moon, it was a sure cure for weakness of the back. If children 
were sick, then a piece of root must be hung about the neck. 

We well remember in the days of small boyhood the gardens 
were searched for "piny toes" to steep for us when we were sick. 
AVell we recall the pungent odor of the old Officinalis. Our smell- 
ing apparatus has gone out of business and we have to borrow wife's 
when there is any fine work to do, but that rank smell comes down 
to us through the halls of memor}', and for years we were prejudiced 
against the very name; and when a friend suggested that we should 
raise peonies, we rebelled and said, "Not those coarse, rank-smell- 
ing things." He replied "I guess you don't know peonies." And 
when we went to some of those splendid shows and saw those gor- 
geous blooms, the fragrance of which filled all the air, and when 
hundreds of admiring spectators hung with rapture over their beauty, 
we changed our mind. Had they been the old-fashioned sort, the 
odor would have been rank enough to drive people out of doors. 



Peony Traorar.cj 

This is most remarkable, on account of its wide diversity. These 
fiowersemit their delicate perfume just as the buds open; after that 
it is not as pronounced. Around one there floats the perfume of 
the N'iolet. The genuine Humei, besides that glorious bloom of 
varnished pink, sends out a cinnamon odor. Many add the per- 
fume of the rose to thi* effulgent bloom. One has the delicate aro- 
ma of the heliotrope. Another has the form and fragrance of the 
pond lily. Let all these emanations blend in one great wave of 
perfume and billows of it seem to hang in the air and float around 
you. Some friends once drove sixteen miles to visit our grounds in 
blooming time, and as they came near the}' said the flowers could 
not be far off, for the very air, even at considerable distance, gave 
tokens of their presence. 



Peony manual 59 

B Tlcld of Peonies 

Is "like a sea of glo^3^" We have traveled much and seen some 
beautiful things, but a field of fifty to 100,000 of these flowers trans- 
cends anything we have ever seen. It does not seem possible that 
so much splendor could be condensed in so small a space. Three 
years ago this was a patch of brown earth. Now you are reminded 
of that wonderful carpet captured from the Persians by the Sara- 
cens, which was a mass of gems — emeralds, rubies, amethysts, 
opals, pearls, sapphires, jaspers and diamonds, in one blend of 
transcendent beauty, only your garden is on a grander scale. 

First, your ground is a foliage garden. How rich and varied 
the color of the plants, as they first appear. How divergent their 
shadings, each kind differing in foliage as well as in bloom. Now 
the buds appear. From them exude drops of purest honey. All 
the glad insects are humming and singing their delight. Now they 
begin to open; first the singles. You never tire of watching them. 
There is Terry's Queen, a massive, fragrant white. When the sun 
is shining all those petals open broadly to the sun. What a cushion 
of gold in the center. Evening comes on and those broad petals 
close over the delicate stamens as the mother shelters her child. 
Those other single ones follow suit. The splendid Maj' Davidson, 
Full Moon, Defiance and others are all folding their tents for the 
night. Among the doubles, almost the first is L' Esperence (Duch- 
ess d' Nemours), a radiant, fragrant flower. This seems the most 
sympathetic of all, appearing to be anxious to be on hand for Dec- 
oration Day to aid the friends to honor their noble dead. What a 
profusion of bloom. Those strong plants seem covered with a man- 
tle of beauty. The flowers are glowing, brilliant pink, large and 
lustrous." Not sensitive like many, grieved with an unfriendly world 
so they cannot show their charms, but ready every season, no mat- 
ter how adverse the conditions, to give their aid to the soldiers and 
their friends. 

And now in rapid succession others fall into line. Never brides, 
preparing for nuptials, pay more attention to their toilet than these. 
They seem dissolving the rainbow to blend its colors in these man- 
tles of beauty. Some have golden tints; here is one cream, pink, 
sulphur and white; another is whiteness itself; there is one of solid 
pink, and there are various shadings of scarlet, red, deep red and 
crimson. Now look out over the field. There is one mantle of 
gorgeous bloom, so full you can hardly see the green or the ground, 
a glorious carpet woven b}^ viewless fingers, fit to be touched with 
the feet of angels. It is as if a section of paradise were let down to 
earth as samples of the "glory to be revealed." You look on in de- 
light. Those blossoms are the interpretation of the Divine Love, 
His precious thoughts translated to us. You are awed and thrilled 
with the honor and the glory of it. "I said ye are Gods." You also 
are a creator. In fields where feet of seraph do not go, you can 
enter. You are in partnership with unseen armies, which, day and 
night, are working with and for you. Had it not been for your ef- 
forts this had not been. Eliminate 3'ourself as factor and the scene 



6o €. $. l>arrl$on'$ 

vanishes and all reverts back to brown earth and weeds. Looking 
at such a transformation a man feels his power and realizes the 
honor which comes to him when the unseen forces salute him as 
kintj: and fall into line to aid him in those marvelous creations. 

This is not all. Yonder are thousands on thousands of seed- 
lings on the way. Your hand planted the seeds. In one of those 
little black balls there was slumbering the form which will yet 
awaken the delight of the lovers of the beautiful. In such a con- 
densed form once slumbered the resplendent Festiva Maxima, one 
of the richest of floral gems, of more value than any jewel dug out 
of earth. In another of those seeds la}' Golden Harvest, in another 
the imperial Grandiflora, in another Rubra Superba, and you know 
not what surprises are in store for you as those thousands upon 
thousands will unfold their charms. You know that some will be 
as queens in the floral world, demanding the attention of the lovers 
of the beautiful, and your hand gathered and planted the seeds and 
cared for the tiny plants. 



Peonies 

The following is from the writings of A, Dessert, one of the 
most renowned and successful peon}' growers of Europe. We are 
much indebted to his carefully compiled list, which has been a great 
aid to us in this work: 

"The peonies are perfectly hardy and so robust that they grow 
well in any ordinary garden soil. However, they furnish the largest 
and most desirable flowers when planted in good, deep-trenched 
ground, and in situations where the soil retains a moderate degree 
of dampness. If the soil be poor it should be copiously mixed with 
rich old manure. Cow manure is the best for all the soils which are 
of a light character. Manure must not come into direct contact 
with the roots. 

"Tree peonies must be set as deeply as they were before in 
nursery. In setting the herbaceous peonies, the plants should be 
inserted with the crowns, or dormant buds, about three inches be- 
low the surface of the soil and should then be well watered. 

"When planted in autumn in strong plants, peonies can pro- 
duce a few flowers in the following spring, but it is only the second 
or third year after planting that they will produce normal flowers. 

Peonies rapidly thrive, increasing in strength and beauty every 
year, and the third year after planting, they have already become 
large clumps which produce many blossoms; therefore peonies need 
about three feet between each plant for their development. To 
maintain a luxuriant vegetation, add to the soil every autumn a co- 
pious dressing of old manure. 

"Peonies may be planted either in borders, groups or beds; they 
are always very ornamental in whatsoever way they are planted. 
They succeed, no matter what the situation may be, but the flow- 
ers remain fresh longer when they are in partly shaded places. When 
they are exposed to the full sun they can be covered with a light 



Peony manual 6i 

cloth; the flowers thus protected acquire a really remarkable, fine 
color, and the flowering lasts much longer. 

"Peonies are not delicate plants; however, you must avoid 
planting them too near voracious shrubs, the rootsof which exhaust 
the soil. But you may plant by the peonies plants of a not cum- 
brous nature, the roots of which do not exhaust the soil, such as 
standard roses, gladioli, etc. 

"Peonies do not require frequent watering, but during the sea- 
sons of extreme drought, and on light soils, copious draughts of 
water or liquid manure once or twice a week will assist in the for- 
mation of good, stout buds for the following season. In the spring 
when the buds are well formed, little side buds should be taken off 
when the largest blooms are desired, but when peonies are planted 
for the ornament of the gardens, I should advise to leave them, be- 
cause these secondary flowers (which are still generally very fine) 
prolong the duration of flowering for some time. 

"It is useful to surround the stems of herbaceous peonies with 
a few light ties, such as raffia fixed to a little prop to protect them 
from a gust of wind. 

"The best time for planting peonies is September and October, 
as soon as the temperature is cool enough for the plants to be sent 
without damage. However, peonies may be planted safely at any 
time that the ground is in good condition, from September to March. 

"Peonies carefully packed in boxes with moss are never damaged 
during the longest jOurne3's, even if they are overtaken on the way 
by the hardest frosts. It is sufficient to put them, when arrived, in 
a cellar or other place of moderate temperature, during two or three 
days before getting the plants out of the boxes." 

Z\)z Great national Peony $bow of \m In Boston 

These annual gatherings have become national events. These 
winsome, beautiful and attractive flowers have their devotees in all 
parts of the land. They gather from most of the northern states, 
some going 1,500 miles, and are amply repaid. Reports of the 
meeting are sent to all parts of the Union. Boston leads in all 
floral attractions. The Horticultural Society is the richest in the 
world. It owns a mammoth building and there is ample room for 
the display of the gathered tributes from the different states. Peo- 
nies are sent in by the ton. Some of the wealthy people near the 
city have splendid collections, often reaching into hundreds of vari- 
eties, gathered, regardless of cost, from Europe and America. Here 
is a physician whose fad is peonies. What a collection he has ! 
There for the first time we saw some of Richardson's best. There 
was Milton Hill, which we never had seen before, and it was a case 
of love at first sight. Here is quite a collection from Ohio. They 
look faint and weary from the long journey, but they revive and 



62 €. $. garrison's 

take the prize. There are many from New York and the neighbor- 
ing" states. 

T. C. Thurlow, the prince of peony growers, is there with his 
wife and daughter and three enthusiastic sons. Their collection is 
from France, Holland and England, besides many American fa- 
vorites. They carry off prizes, of course. They always do. 

J. E. Shaylor is there with his marvelous collection, chief among 
them Mme. Emile Lemoine, a French queen of imperial beaut}' and 
radiance. He has one of the fine collections of America. Presi- 
dent Ward is there with his favorites. Mr. Hollis is on hand with 
his splendid new creations. He is a magician, who has been calling 
forms of wondrous loveliness out of the unknown. He has many 
exceedingly fine ones, so many that, if all other varieties were wiped 
out, his family of new ones could stand as fair representatives of the 
whole race. His crosses between the Chinese and Japanese are 
very attractive and claim much attention. We are glad to know 
that there are now hundreds in different states at work along the 
same lines developing new varieties. 

Here are exchanges going on. One man has ver_v fine sorts, 
and another has others, and so they swap. Some are sold at high 
prices. And here let me say that the best varieties must go up. 
Mr. Hollis asks from $i to $15 a root for his new ones, and they are 
worth it. Baroness Schroeder soars to $5. And why not ? Scoring 
all the points of excellence and multiplying as rapidly as any, the 
original cost would be lost in a short time. What are five dollars, 
when you can get thirty or forty roots in four years, and $1,000 in 
ten years .-^ People have been fooled so much in importing worth- 
less sorts. They had much rather pay $5 or $iofor something they 
can depend on. The west may learn a lesson from the east and se- 
cure the very best, regardless of cost. They are doing this with 
cattle, horses and hogs, but haven't come to it 3-et \\ith flowers. 
But they will, for there is plenty of room for growth along all lines. 



Start Ridbt 

Begin with thoroughbreds instead of scrubs. The lessons of 
these great floral exhibitions are many. One is, those thousands of 
people who come to enjoy all those attractions are not fooled by 
fads. The}' are sensible, appreciative people, allured thither by 
real worth. Again, people learn to aspire for the best. They be- 
gin to understand the possibilities of the Home Beautiful and see 
how much is in store for them. They see also what they can do 
along the lines of new creations. Besides, there is a commendable 
rivalry. 

Pconv Growing as a Business 

Young people, boys and girls, are desirous of doing something, 
but are deterred by lack of capital. A boy wishes to raise cattle, 



Peony manual 63 

and he is confronted with bills for first cost — the high price of ani- 
mals, to begin with, then the cost of feed and shelter. A girl thinks 
she will raise poultry, but there must be ceaseless vigilance. She 
can't go awa}' on a visit, and even the cost of buildings is quite an 
item. A poor widow wishes she might in some way lay up for a 
rainy day, or for old age, which she feels is creeping on; but she is 
without means. Yet all can enter this field with little ex- 
pense, provided there is a little plat of ground which can be se- 
cured somewhere. 

Get some of the best, hard}' and constant bloomers. For in- 
stance, $3.00 will get a dozen L'Esperence, which sell readily and 
are always in demand. The same amount will get a dozen white 
Queen Victorias. The whites are alwaj'S wanted. Six dollars will 
now get a dozen of those resplendent Festiva Maximas, the queen 
of the whites. These are very vigorous, the}' multiply rapidly and 
are always in demand. A full supply has never yet been raised. 
You can get a root or two of some superior sort like Avalanche, 
Amazone, Mm. Emile Lemoine, Mme. de Vernville, Ville d' Nancey, 
Plutarch or Duke of Devonshire, follow directions in this manual, 
dig and divide every two years, and you will be surprised to see 
3'our fortune grow. The widow can have something for old age, a 
life insurance secured with small cost. The girl can have some- 
thing with which to commence housekeeping, and the boy will be 
sure of a start in life. 

"Can't lUe Oi^erdo the Business?" 

Yes, when the love of the beautiful is dead in the souls of the 
people,, when billions on billions have been raised to fill all the em- 
pires of the west and northwest. 

The love of the beautiful is growing, not dying, and when you 
get to raising the most charming, as well as the hardiest, flower on 
earth, you may be absolutely sure of success. 

If you want to be gone a week, your plants will not be like 
chickens, dying for lack of care. All the long, cold months of win- 
ter they are independent of you. There is no enterprise which will 
give you such congenial employment, which will so compound in- 
terest for you on such a bountiful scale and bring in such returns 
for the capital invested. Be sure and begin right. Get the best 
kinds and give them good care and your reward is certain. 



64 > C. $. garrison's 

B tribute 

In the land of the North, where old Boreas reigns, 

Binding rivers and fields in his terrible chains, 

Where the brilliant Aurora, with fingers of light. 

Is painting her splendors on garments of night; 

Where the chill arms of winter our beauty enfold, 

And wrap up her form in a mantle of cold. 

She wakes from her slumbers and springs to the light. 

And welcomes the warmth with her countenance bright. 

How winsome her beauty ! She floods all the air 

With billows of fragrance, delicious and rare. 
Away in the Southland, the land of the sun, 
And out on the plains where the wild tempests run,. 

She blooms in her beauty, revealing her worth. 

Then hides from the heat in the sheltering earth. 

Where the fair Rhododendrons in radiance glow. 

And their wonderful glory of loveliness show; 

And Azalias are robed in their princely attire. 

All aflame in their vestments of crimson and fire; 

There her fragrance and graces our senses allure. 

Full as lovely in form, and in beauty as pure. 

By the side of the rose in her robes of the morning. 

And graces exquisite her beauty adorning; 

To whose fairy sweetness will ever belong 

The legends of story, and tributes of song. 

She need never hide in confusion and shame. 

Or cringe at the thought of the magical name. 

The pond lily flings all her sweets on the air, 

And opens before us a countenance fair. 

But the queen of our love is as dear to the e3'e 

As the delicate blooms which on still waters lie. 

In the great prairie empire, so dreary and vast. 
Where roses are slain by the terrible blast. 
Where sirocco and blizzard in tournament vie. 
And flowers of the Eastland grow homesick and die; 
Where gardens are lonely and homes are forlorn. 

There bravely our queen lifts her beautiful form 

And laughs at the tempest and smiles at the storm. 

And mothers whose eyes have grown weary with waiting,. 

And girls whose sweet spirits for beaut}' are aching, 

Shall smile on the march of our glorious flower. 

And souls that are hungry her beauty devour. 

No more shall the homestead be sad and forlorn, 

An invasion of beauty the land shall adorn. 

How sweetly her blossoms the senses beguile. 

And the wear}- revive with the breath of her smile. 



41^ 




FiKLD nr Xkbraska Peoxies 



11907 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



000 910 357 




1 



George Hollis' Japanese Hyi^rids 



1 



i 

i 



